In 1992 Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch), an intelligent,
affable recent college graduate hailing from a well to do family, quietly and
completely exited his life, abandoned his car and all possessions, and set off
to explore the wilderness of the Western continent with the Alaskan interior in
mind as his final destination. As he encounters an array of people and terrains
he ambles along contentedly to a lonesome and tragic demise. Jon Krakauer’s
fascinating, journalistic account of McCandless’s journey is hampered by
director and book adapter Sean Penn’s pseudo-documentary structure which serves
to somewhat distance the viewer from the story. The scenery, however, is
spectacular and Penn does try diligently to remain faithful to the book. Hirsch
gives it his all but doesn’t really have the chops to match his will, though he
is given wonderful support from Hal Holbrook, Cathy Keener, and Vince Vaughn.
Lastly, the Eddie Vedder soundtrack grows awfully wearisome and mundane.
*** out of ****
