Dominic LeRose
The journey of one free-spirited young man has captured the hearts of people all over the world for his bravery and remarkable attitude towards life. Chris McCandless is a unique film character in that even though we know his outcome isn't great, we support his decisions along the way. Based on a remarkable true story, Sean Penn captures the heart and soul of the physical and emotional wilderness inside and around man. This film could have been done poorly is just any director tackled the project, but Penn gives the film a gorgeous layer of emption that makes the audience dig deep into the true story he's documenting. Eddie Veder's original songs written and performed for the film are superb and capture the nature of the film perfectly. What steals the show is Hal Holbrook as an elderly loner who meets Chris along his wilderness journey to Alaska, giving as heartbreaking a performance as they come. This is a film nearly everyone enjoys and is worth seeing and thinking about long after your viewing.
disneyed
The story of a college graduate who "rebels against society" and becomes a drifter/adventurer. One of the things I felt the movie was trying to choke down my throat was the wastefulness and uselessness of society. I did not read the book. But the fact that this was produced by Sean Penn is typical and at the same time comical. There's a song in the film which talks about how much money do we need, and how much space do we need before it becomes too much. That we take and use too much. And yet a quick search shows Mr Penn to be worth $150 million. And I might be wrong but I bet he has a pretty big house. This is where I find the hypocrisy. I don't like to be preached at. As much as he is rebelling against society, he is also rebelling against his parents and his upbringing. The movie is visually interesting with diverse scenery. The acting is very good. The script is good. Worth a watch.
Suzie Bogus
*Spoilers*It's interesting to see how many reviews, both positive and negative, are basing their rating on what the author thought of the lead character. To me, that is a measure of how powerful the film and the subject matter are. No matter what you think of the protagonist, the film draws you in and provokes a strong emotional response.
The film does a good, but not great, job of showing the events and the emotional impact of the events which drove McCandless away from home. The series of relationships he develops are well done, with well developed characters and real emotional attachments. In the end, as McCandless dies alone, we are reminded of all the times he pushed away those who tried bond with him.
There are some elements which distract from the film. All of Emile Hirsch's little improv bits should have hit the cutting room floor with a heavy thud. He's just not very good at improv. The "apple of my eye" bit was embarrassingly cringe-worthy. In addition, Eddie Vedder's sophomoric lyrics make the soundtrack a disaster.
I can understand why so many people are upset about the possibility of other people being led to follow in McCandless' footsteps by glorifying his quest. He was extremely irresponsible and lacking in resourcefulness. Seriously, it never occurred to him that the stream he crossed in the beginning would be impassable in the spring snowmelt? He didn't even bring a map? He could have easily hiked out if he had a map. And in the end, when he couldn't cross the stream, he didn't even try the most obvious next step, simply following the river downstream. If he had, he'd have found a cable crossing less than a mile away.
Despite the flaws, this is a powerful story well told, with many fascinating characters. Hal Holbrook, Christine Keeler, and Vince Vaughn all give outstanding performances. It's well worth watching no matter what your views on the main character.
