INTO THE WILD [2007] review

February 11, 2008 · Print This Article

It was dangerous for me to watch INTO THE WILD, I knew it would be. How close was I not so many years ago of meeting the same fate as “Alexander Supertramp?” … As he thought one must face fear once a year, so did I, and continue to face it once a year. And, I didn’t know I believed it, but I think unknowingly, I always have…money makes you cautious.

…That’s when we first meet Chris (Alexander as he goes by on the Road). The movie follows him as he prepares for his “great Alaskan adventure,” that has many stops along the way first. And the movie does an incredibly realistic job of showing the amazing people you meet out on the Road. … The relationships he forges with people, be they 10 minutes or a month, they are all significant, especially for the people that get left behind.

…All the actors in WILD really get into their roles, bit parts or longer, and give the movie a real weight.

…It’s no spoiler to say Chris doesn’t survive the movie. … But by about 80% into the movie, I just couldn’t believe it. In the first quarter of the movie, I totally could. He was so cavalier and reckless, it seemed no one could keep getting that lucky for that long, not even with the invincibility of youth. … The moment you realize the reason why he won’t make it, I said “motherfucker” out loud.

…But I do not see this as a sad or a tragic movie in the least. It’s one of wonder, and awe, and hope, and finding, at long last, what one is looking for, and being content with grasping it for the moment, and then accepting the fate of such a thing.

…I always say, and I believe Chris would totally agree with me, living a few decades on your own terms, without compromise, is way better than living 80 years for nothing.

RELATED POSTS:
THE STING [1973] review
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT [2004] review
TOUCHING THE VOID [2003] review
RIDING GIANTS [2004] review
INDIANA JONES & THE TEMPLE OF DOOM [1984] review