Wild

Watching Wild, I found myself constantly thinking back on the 2007 film, Into the Wild, which told the story of a disillusioned young man named Chris McCandless, who gave up on modern society so that he could live in the untamed wilderness of Alaska.  Here, we get the true story of Cheryl Strayed, a woman who makes a somewhat similar, though far less dangerous, journey when it feels like her life is falling apart and she has lost everything.

This is nowhere near as great of a movie as Into the Wild, but it is quite good, and it features a strong performance by Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl.  She is determined to make the hike along a trail that goes from the California/Mexico border, all the way up to Canada.  She runs into some colorful characters along the way, and her body and feet obviously get pretty banged up during the long journey.  But, truth be told, not a whole lot happens to her during the course of the journey itself.  The only time she comes close to being in danger in the film is when she has a run-in with a pair of creepy male hikers who ask her for some water, but won't leave her alone after she gives them some.  Witherspoon does a great job of conveying the physical and emotional exhaustion her character is going through, and director Jean-Marc Vallee (Dallas Buyers Club) really captures the beauty of the scenery.  But there's little tension during the journey she endures.

Oddly enough, the more dramatically compelling material occurs during the flashbacks, which tell us the story as to why Cheryl is on this journey in the first place.  The flashbacks are scattered and kind of out of place, as real memories often are.  They are triggered by the tiniest things during Cheryl's adventure.  We witness her as a child, with an abusive father, and a loving mother (Laura Dern) who manages to smile all through the hardest of times.  Her mother eventually moves out on her own, goes back to school, and tries to build a new life for herself.  But then, tragedy strikes when her mother is diagnosed with a terminal illness, which she quickly succumbs to.  This sent Cheryl spiraling into a drug and sex-fueled depression, which costs her relationship with her husband Paul (Thomas Sadowski).  This journey she is embarking on is therapeutic, and a chance to confront her own personal demons during the three months or so it takes her to walk the full trail.

The scenes between Witherspoon and Dern are wonderful, with both actresses giving layered and thoughtful performances here.  They create a realistic mother-daughter relationship, with Dern trying her best to be optimistic, and Witherspoon being loving, but not quite understanding how her mother can be so optimistic when the family has so little to live on.  Their performances are almost reason enough to see Wild, especially Witherspoon, who throws herself so much into her portrayal of the real life Cheryl Strayed that it's almost certain to earn her a nomination come Oscar time, and possibly a win.  Her performance is so dedicated here that it really can be considered one of the finest female performances of 2014. 

This is not a heavily narrative-driven film.  The entire success of the movie rises and falls on its lead performance, so that's why Witherspoon is so crucial here.  Much like the director's last film, Dallas Buyer's Club, this is more an acting showcase than it is a moving and compelling drama.  Yes, there are some very effective moments here, but as I mentioned, they are pretty much contained entirely in the flashbacks, not in the "present day" (1995) material.  This is a well made and well-acted movie, but it never quite rose to that extra level to become a truly great movie.  Still, it can be considered a very good one.  The nature scenery alone deserves to be seen on the big screen at least once.

At the very least, Wild has inspired me to look more into the story of Cheryl Strayed, and learn more about the details that the movie sort of glosses over.  Anytime a movie makes me want to look more into its subject, it cannot be labeled a failure.  Fortunately, this is actually a pretty good movie.  Just not a great one.

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