Into the Wild review

Into the Wild
Directed by Sean Penn
Starring Emile Hirsh, Hal Holbrook, Marsha Gay Harden, and William Hurt
Rated R (contains language, adult situations, substance use, and some nudity/sexuality)
Score: **1/2

I'm so disappointed. I was looking forward to this movie so much, just like I was
looking forward to Lust Caution.

But it had to go and be mediocre and disappoint me, also like Lust Caution.

The film follows Chris McCandless, aka Alexander Supertramp, a 21-year-old college grad who is fed up with the status quo and leaves everything to be a drifter. His ultimate goal is to make it to Alaska, where he plans to live off the land for a while.

This film is based off a book, which is based on a true story. Actually, it's a very close retelling of the story. From what I understand, this is a very faithful adaptation.

Here's the central problem- Chris is the most immature, naive, pig-headed, anal, smart-assed, and downright baby-ish character I've ever seen. It may have been the filmmaker's intentions, but what this does is draw us out of the experience. You can't have a good movie if you don't sympathize with the characters.

I was expecting this movie to have a great mesage about discovering yourself in the world. Unfortunately, I got a really selfish brat who thinks destroying all of his life and leaving his family is a splendid idea. The whole film up until the last 30 minutes or so paints him as this justified hero because, well, his parents faught a lot and "nobody understands him." Bullshit. Anybody with a brain knows that's ridiculous.

There isn't a message in the film up until the aformentioned last 30 minutes. It just wanders like Chris does. Then, we get to the actual meat, which is actually quite good. I'm not in the business of spoilers, but I'll say that I thought for a movie with such a stupid central character, it wrapped up nicely.

The cinematography is fantastic, and Hal Holbrook is amazing in his supporting role. In fact, all the supporting roles were better than Emile Hirsch's role as Chris. But that's because he had to play a prick.

All in all, you're supposed to "understand" Chris, but not necessarily agree with him. I did niether. It ruined the movie for me. It's obviously a well made movie, and a lot of people seem to enjoy it. I probably won't ever see it again.