'Into the Wild' results in poor adaptation
By Rachel Hanes, Staff Writer
November 8, 2007 | 4 p.m.
Based on the national best-seller by Jon Krakauer, “Into the Wild” tells the true story of Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch, “The Girl Next Door”), a top student at Emory University who, after graduating, decides to desert the comforts of home to travel into the Alaskan wilderness. Christopher, who is dissatisfied by his home life and the population’s obsession with possessions, gives his savings to charity, burns most of his own earnings and leaves his apartment to hitchhike from Atlanta to the intense isolation that would be the Alaskan wild.
Christopher’s family is not told about his plan to navigate north, and he abandons any traces of his former identity. He throws away his IDs, burns his social security card and changes his name (he is known only as Alexander Supertramp to those he meets on his travels). He meets many interesting people whom he is able to inspire with his beliefs about life; these people in turn help him, in ways both spiritual and in helping with his journey.
After working his way north, Christopher sets up camp in an abandoned bus in the freezing Alaskan wilderness. The film documents his survival in the wild, completely isolated from any life form other than the wildlife. With only his few supplies and his wits about him, he attempts to make a peaceful existence for himself by living off the land.
Like any other work of art, there are obvious criticisms and acclaim to be made about “Into the Wild.” It must be said that “Wild” is an unorganized mess. The film attempts to smoothly weave together four different stories, two of which are in the past, and two in the present: the events of Christopher’s past family life coupled with his adventures before arriving in Alaska, and his family's dealing with his disappearance coupled with Christopher’s attempt to survive in the wild.
If the film focused only on Christopher in Alaska, it would no doubt be a bore, considering its limitations as a series of shots of Christopher alone and fighting the elements. The extra story lines, despite their good intentions to keep the film exciting, create confusion and become an annoyance. Having the film constantly switching from one story to the next and trying to understand when and where the characters are results in more irritation than entertainment. This continues for 140 minutes, which is far too much time for this story to be told.
Also, the film suffers from poor casting. Notably good actors like Jena Malone (“Donnie Darko”) and William Hurt (“A History of Violence”) turn in dry performances as Christopher's family members. Their times on screen are hardly enthralling. This could be because his home life is meant to be shown as a sad one: his father (Hurt) abuses his mother (Marcia Gay Harden, “Meet Joe Black”) while he and his sister (Malone) look on. Even so, it is obvious that a little more effort and a little more character development could have helped the film in many ways.
While the bad outweighs the good in “Into the Wild,” the positive aspects of the film are worth mentioning. The film is directed by eight-time director and world-renowned actor Sean Penn (“Mystic River”), and he does a surprisingly beautiful job. Although the movie does not do justice to the book it is based on, at least it is fair to the world in which it takes place. Penn captures nature brilliantly and treats audiences to long pans of seemingly endless horizons and untouched landscapes that will make one yearn for nature rather than suburbia.
The film also survives by having Emile Hirsch as its lead character. Hirsch is a delight to watch and can make even the most simple things, like eating an apple, something to be seen. Whether he is alone in the wilderness or connecting with strangers during his journey, Hirsch proves that Christopher is a warm creature despite how irrational he may seem. This is most evident during the scenes in which he is interacting with Wayne, played by Vince Vaughn (“Wedding Crashers”). Those scenes, which are too few, fail to give the hilarious Vaughn enough time on screen and truly allow Hirsch to show the audience what a bright being Christopher was.
Despite stunning direction, a great performance by Hirsch and a moving soundtrack (featuring many tailor-made contributions from the iconic Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam), “Into the Wild” is hurt by its long running time, headache-inducing editing and poor supporting cast. For such a captivating book to be transformed into a less than thrilling film is truly disappointing.
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Visit the official Web site at IntotheWild.com
Speakeasy Rating: C-
Running Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for language and some nudity
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama and Adaptation