INTO THE WILD

Director: Sean Penn

Stars: Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Jenna Malone, Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn, Kristen Stewart, Hal Holbrook

Year: 2007

Rating: R

Into the Wild is the haunting true story of young college graduate Christopher Johnson McCandless - here played beautifully and effectively by Emile Hirsch. I was told, after seeing the film, that it would stick with me for awhile afterward - something I couldn't see happening, even after I watched the movie. And yet, since seeing it the film has invaded my thought more than a couple of times, and I found myself even having a dream last night in which it was me in McCandless' shoes ... hence the reason I used the word "haunting" - and the reason you should see this film.

Sean Penn (who also wrote the script) shows his finally-honed skills behind the camera here, directing a top-of-the-line cast in the story of McCandless, an athletic college graduate who - simply put - gives up the life and world he knows to explore the country on foot, en route to finally getting to Alaska and living in the wild. He's an educated, good-looking, and highly intelligent guy, a well-read fellow who quotes Kerouac and Thoreau and has a sister (Jenna Malone) who dotes on him - as well as two parents (Harden and Hurt) who seem to have their act together, but who (we learn as the film goes on) are actually quite screwed up, and have emotionally distanced their children from them in the process.

After an early, tense luncheon with this McCandless family, after Chris' graduation from Emory (in which viewers get a good idea of just how they do - and don't - get along), Chris - without telling anyone - donates most of his bank account ($24,000) to charity, burns all his identification and credit cards, and sets out on his eventual journey to Alaska. When his car is trapped in a mudslide fairly quickly, Chris even abandons it (removing and taking the license plate with him, to ditch later), setting off on foot ... and the rest of the film is about his life on the road, on the way to Alaska, and the people whose lives he touches - and those who, in turn, touch and shape him as a man.

Whether a hippie couple who take him under their wing for a bit, a good-natured guy who gives Chris a temporary job processing wheat, or a Danish couple Chris comes across who tell him the best way to kayak into Mexico on a river, Chris travels the United States and marvels at nature at its finest, as he tries to get up enough money to get to Alaska at last.

Which he does, in the opening of the film, and the rest of his tale flashes back and forth between his Alaskan adventure ... and how he got there. Hal Holbrook, Oscar-nominated for his work here, is warm and wonderful as Ron Franz, a guy Chris comes particularly close to, as a grandfather figure, toward the end of his journey to the Alaskan wilderness. But it's Chris' story all the way ...

As well as the story of Mother Nature in all its glory. You not only come to sympathize with and love Christopher McCandless (who, once on the road, goes now by "Alexander Supertramp"), but also to, through him, perhaps examine your own life, and what may or may not really be important in it. It's a long film - nearly 2-1/2 hours - but Penn doesn't waste a frame, and many of those frames are filled with beauty and energy that alone make the film worthwhile.

As does the story of Christopher McCandless. I was very sorry I already knew the ending of this film before seeing it - and I pray if you don't, you will see the film before finding out yourself; the emotional impact of the film may be that much greater if you don't. But either way, this is a film that may be watched through your eyes - yet somehow, reaches past them and your brain and heart to somehow touch your soul. It's quite a film, alternately breaking your heart even as it makes it soar, and I hope anyone who has ever wanted to find themselves in a world so big has a chance to see it. ****1/2 - Reel Awesome-Reel Must-See