Friday, December 4, 2009

December 3, 2009

Into the Wild (2007)
#84 on my Top 100 List
Once you get over the fact that the main character, perpetual wanderer Chris McCandless, has a lot of opinions and expresses them in self-important, pretentious voice over, there is a lot to love about this movie. Chris's story is very interesting, even if his musings on life are not. It's also moving and heartbreakingly tragic. The supporting cast is just as good as Emile Hirsch as Chris and includes Vince Vaughn (in one of his rare non-comedic roles), Kristen Stewart (pre-Twilight), Catherine Keener, Marcia Gay Harden, and Hal Holbrook in his Oscar-nominated role. The landscapes are stunning, shot in Alaska, Arizona, Oregon and California, and the way that Sean Penn (who I like way better as a director than an actor) uses them almost creates an additional character for Emile Hirsch to interact with, since for a lot of the movie, he's alone. The look of the movie makes it seem like he is truly communing with nature.
My Netflix rating: 5 stars

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