Pages Menu
TwitterFacebooklogin
Categories Menu

Posted by on Dec 24, 2014 in Blog, Movie Reviews | 2 comments

We are never prepared for what we expect (Movie Review: “Wild”)

 

movie-wild

 

We are never prepared for what we expect.  So wrote novelist James A. Michener.  That thought sums up the life-transforming excursion in pursuit of self-awareness, some might even say an identity, ventured by writer Cheryl Strayed back in 1995, when she embarked upon a grueling three-month, 1,100-mile journey entirely by foot, along the Pacific Crest Trail.

 

The once-troubled woman from Minneapolis started her long hike in California’s blistering Mojave Desert.  It ended many bruises and blisters later in the lush mountain forests of Washington State.  As with our most goals and the most purposeful of pursuits, the geographical destination isn’t really the thing.  It’s the deeper journey within the mind and soul that ultimately delivers the satisfaction we long for.  Getting there isn’t fun in the classic sense.  But making the effort and pushing oneself into unchartered territory is well worth the pain.

Strayed’s long hike was certainly an extraordinary feat, not just for the vast amount of distance she covered across three states or the magnitude of physical endurance required to walk through the heat and cold, weathering the dangers of the wild with nothing more than a backpack loaded to the gills with survival gear.  Her far tougher challenge was overcoming the obvious danger of hiking alone as a single woman for such a long stretch, in the face of imminent fears she could easily be robbed, raped, or even killed.  Then, there’s the badgering question every sexist asks — and indeed which gets asked over and over again — which hardly ever arises between male adventurers, namely — “what are you doing out here?”

Reese Witherspoon takes this wonderfully inspiring true story told in a book of the same name and immerses herself into this willful woman in the midst of a transition in Wild.  The movie was released nationally in theaters this week.  Witherspoon, who hasn’t exactly swooned audiences since her Best Actress Oscar win eight years ago for “Walk the Line,” is clearly back on a roll again, and not just as an actress.  She was co-producer on the critically-acclaimed “Gone Girl,” sure to earns a few decorations come Oscar nomination time.

“Wild” has just about everything going for it.  The subject matter moves us.  Although this is a familiar territory that has been covered brilliantly before, most notably in “Into the Wild” (2007) and “The Way” (2010), the injection of a female lead as the central character provides plenty of new ground ripe for exploration.  It’s ostensibly well cast, with Witherspoon in the starring role, who can only be sympathetic to the broadest possible audience, including some desperate to break away from some of their own past troubles and begin anew, hence someone we can all relate to.  And the splendid scenery of national parks provides a stirring backdrop for self-discovery, a veritable canvass on which to create a new personality portrait for what had been a very troubled young woman.

Strayed’s inner demons aren’t just swirling overhead like dark clouds, as she takes step after painful step.  Her past remains the very essence of who she is now, which is all that matters.  Although the lines seem blurry, we can’t change our past, but we can shape our future.  That’s revealed here in a constant bombardment of flashbacks, some in graphic detail.  As Strayed encounters all the things that one might expect along the barren trail, and even come upon a few surprises along the way, she’s constantly reminded of her prior life as a heroin user engaging in numerous one-night stands with strange men.  Then, there’s the pain of a divorce brought about by her own mistakes and the death of her beloved mother, played by Laura Dern.  These flashbacks emphasize that this hike isn’t so much a pursuit of adventure, as an escape.  It’s even a desperate cry for help.

So, how could a movie like this go wrong?  Why does Wild miss the intended target?

Well, unfortunately, it does miss.

The problem starts with Witherspoon herself, playing the way-too demanding role of Ms. Stayed.  We never totally buy into the proposition that this pretty girl is really out in the wild roughing it with the elements.  Maybe it’s that she never gets a sunburn despite hiking a month through the high desert.  Perhaps it’s that her leg muscles just aren’t fully developed as they’d be had she made such a torturous walk.  It might be her angelic blond hair, always nicely combed and shining in the sun, despite going without a shower for weeks at a time.  Sorry, this isn’t what a hiker out of the wilderness would look like after spending months sleeping in a tent and going without a flushing toilet.  Have you ever gone a couple of days without a fresh shower?  What did you look and feel like?  Now, try it for a couple of weeks.  Here, Witherspoon looks more like she’s just stepped out of an air-conditioned trailer filming a new television commercial for granola bars.

Then, there’s the ceaseless profanity, most of it slung around loosely by Stayed.  Plenty of F-bombs can enhance a script when it seems appropriate.  But Stayed’s character drops enough “fucks” throughout the movie to seem like she’s auditioning for a part in the next Quentin Tarantino movie.  After a while, it’s not just tedious.  It seems ridiculous (and unnecessary).

Speaking of ridiculous, why must every bad guy in an American film nowadays be a trailer-trash-talking sexist bigot with a thick Southern accent?  There’s a vile parade of male chauvinist pigs in the movie who all hit on Stayed.  One presumes this is a constant (and very real) problem for many solo females, not just those who are traveling, but venturing just about anywhere where lots of men hang out.  Hey, we get it.  There are some real assholes out there.  What I don’t get is that every jerk who makes a sexist remark or attempts to get inside the pretty girl’s hiking pants sounds like they’re from the Deep South.  Why do the weird accents play into ugly stereotypes?  Aren’t these “good old boys” from California, Oregon, and Washington?  Bigotry cuts both ways, my friends.

The story darts back and forth between present and past.  This would all work fine, except there’s one glaring omission, which is unforgivable.  We never quite find out what prompted Stayed to leave Minneapolis behind, fly 2,000 miles west, and basically take everything she owns on her back along the trail.  What made her do all this?  What would instigate such a monumental personal sacrifice?  Sure, she’s seen buying a used book about the Pacific Crest Trail in a store and eventually reads it.  But most of us don’t inexplicably hit the ejection button on our lives and catapult into the unknown abyss without some kind of incitement.  What happened?  Was a key scene left on the cutting room floor?

Those hitches aside, “Wild’s'” most glaring misstep comes late in the movie.  Without divulging too much of the story or spoiling the ending, let me just say that for a feminist-oriented movie, what might otherwise be a powerful message for many women (and men) is utterly sabotaged in about a five-minute stretch where Stayed reverts back to her old ways.  The film presumes to show us how a desperate woman manages to turn her life around entirely on her own.  That’s inspiring.  She doesn’t need drugs or the fawning adoration of men to make her feel complete.  But wait, maybe she does!  So much for the noble advancement of female empowerment.

Fundamentally, this is a good story.  There are plenty of nice moments within the film including reflections of pure poetry.  There’s also an uplifting message, not just for women, but for all people who seek to turn their lives around.  Unfortunately, the execution of a good story misses.  Too bad that so many twisted plot ankles ruin what should have been the hike of a lifetime.

Channeling Michener, this is the movie I expected, but which ultimately fails to deliver.

RATING:  5.5 STARS ON A SCALE OF 1-10  

TAG: Nolan Dalla movie reviews

2 Comments

  1. You are obviously male and probably can never be expected to understand the movie. You missed the point while looking for the errors. Do you do that throughout life? Maybe you need a journey.

  2. loved the book, but found it interesting that one of the premises, “lost, and found, on the PCT” was never confirmed or denied. Being out on the trail served as a kind of self induced rehab from sex and drug addiction. What was not revealed is what her life was like when she got off the trail. Was she cured of her addictions?

Post a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

css.php