Pro/Con Movie Review: Into the Wild

Last fall I sat down with Ladybird to watch “Into the Wild,” Sean Penn’s beautifully shot tribute to tramping. Based on the Jon Krakauer book (and his previous Outside magazine article “Death of an Innocent”), “Into the Wild” tells the story of young Christopher McCandless’s transformation from brilliant child of privilege in a dysfunctional home to Alaska-aspiring backpacking gypsy Alexander Supertramp. After watching and enjoying the movie, Ladybird recommended I pick up the book, which she had already read. Within the first few chapters I was hooked. I couldn’t put it down. And I already knew the ending. It didn’t matter. Krakauer had me. His storytelling method was brilliant as he trekked across the country retracing McCandless’s path up to his ultimate demise at the hands of the Alaskan wilderness.

When Ladybird was out to watch the latest Katherine Heigel boner deflater, I was fortunate enough to come home to see “Into the Wild” on TV. Now I could watch it uninterrupted from a different perspective having read the book.

After the first hour I became torn. I began picking up these little pieces from the film that were detracting from both my previous viewing and reading experiences. I couldn’t decide if this film was good, or I just loved the story so much that I was talking myself into it. So, I made a list of pros and cons based on my personal tastes, preferences and opinions. I wanted to see a) if this movie was as good as I thought and b) is it rewatchable.

Pros
• Visually stunning scenery makes me want to live among wolves and bears.
• ALASKA!
• Eddie Vedder’s voice making crucial plot points even more potent and relevant.
• Vince Vaughn being so damn likable, even as a scam artist.
• A genuinely emotional, yet brief relationship between Hal Holbrook and Emile Hirsch.
• Emile Hirsch being the perfect amount of annoying for the character.
• William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden as oppressive and dysfunctional parents
• Sean Penn not caving into Hollywood pressure and keeping the heartbreaker ending.
• Emile Hirsch getting all method on our asses.

Cons
• Sweaty hippie sex
• Forced Kristen Stewart relationship that dragged story down
• Emile Hirsch doing Emile Hirsch things
• Underutilized and unnoticed Zach Galifinakis cameo
• Sean Penn encouraging actors to break the 4th wall
• Awkward fonts and graphic treatments
• Emile Hirsch and his hairy penis floating down river
• 2 and a half fucking hours


In the end, I realized that as much as I loved the story, there was one thing that prevented this movie from being both very good and rewatchable. The 148 minute runtime makes it too damn long to sit through repeatedly. Loved the characters, soundtrack and scenery, but just not enough to make me watch it again. Maybe instead I’ll just download the songs and flip on Planet Earth while rereading the Krakauer book.