Wild Reviews

Ever since the movie 'Dallas Buyers Club' grabbed the three golden statues at the Oscars, the director has been in the spotlight. But I was enjoying his movies before that and yet this one is another remarkable adventurous-drama based on the real expedition into the wild. Cheryl Strayed whose story was this film based upon appeared in the beginning scene where she drops off her version of the movie character and wishes her a luck.

The world is round, you can't runaway with your problems. If you do, you might end up where you have started. That's why its called a circle of life, goes round and round and round. You can hide your issues with yourself, but it may lead to a depression. Sometime when an experiment goes wrong, it's better to restart from the scratch with a different method. Here in our (human) lives some people do the same, return to where we've come from to restore the lost life. Of course I said all these, because this flick was inspired by such real incident.

I prefer this film was very close to the Australian movie 'Tracks' than bringing 'Into the Wild' into the frame. Obviously the Australian movie and this one are about the two young women, but the thing is, the story deals with the different motivation for their decision to take part in the quest. The Aussie flick has an edge over this when it comes to the challenges faced during the journey and also I loved from narration to photography, music and performance.

Since they both inspired by the true story, I appreciate the filmmaker's effort to bring them into the screen and salute to those two magnificent ladies. In both the films, both the women psychologically affected by their earlier stage of lives which was one of the reasons to step into the wild. I feel, 'Tracks' should have been nominated instead this movie for the Academy Awards.

I've always been someone's daughter or mother or wife.
I never got to be in the driver's seat of my own life.

It was a wonderful 2014 for Reese Witherspoon. Back to back career reviving; biographical and inspiring human emotion movies in this graphic, sci-fi and fantasy dominated era. The year's sweetheart for the critics and I doubt there will be another same year. Remember, she was nominated for the Oscars for her role in this film.

The disappointment was the adventures. Not what I expected. The struggles were unable to reach for our deep heart compared to other self-discovery voyage films. Weight she carried and losing a toe nail, I don't see much impact because those are supposed to happen. This PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) is well planned and partially protected the hikers with all the needs supplied all along the route. The only thing they have to do is stay away from the wild lives and watch-out for the intruders between the checkpoints.

In other end coping with depression was what I loved in the movie. Without those flashbacks this film was nothing. Literally, this story all about the mental healing. The pain she carried, she just wanted to eject it from her body and mind, and the journey helped it. The funny thing is I liked Laura Dern a lot than anybody in the movie. Her character as well as her dialogues was very inspiring. Her nominee for the actress in a supporting role was justified. I can watch this film again and again, only for her alone, sadly she won't appear for a long stay.

I loved it, but not completely pleased with the product. The reason is 'Tracks'. I think the film came at the wrong time or maybe I saw this one when the other flick was still hot and fresh in my memory. An achievement is an achievement, I respect both the films. You like the movie or not, that's a secondary thought regarding movie's outcome. But it's a must see for disclosing the extraordinary adventure of an ordinary young woman.

7.5/10

For a few years after her Oscar win in 2006, Reese Witherspoon seemed to have gotten lost in easy paycheck romantic comedies and dramatic roles that seemed aimed at recapturing prestige. 2014 may just be the course-correct year for her, producing a mixed bag in Gone Girl, turning in solid supporting work in Inherent Vice and Mud, and in Wild delivering an emotionally stripped down and raw performance. It’s a great return to form, and I’m happy to see her back in fighting form. (Election has given her a lifetime pass of goodwill for me.)

Wild, adapted by Nick Hornby from Cheryl Strayed’s memoir, tells the story of one person’s emotional and spiritual rebirth after overcoming a series of debilitating personal issues and addictions. Haunting over the film is the spectre of Strayed’s mother, played in minimal screen time with maximum honest and impact by Laura Dern, and the memories that flood back to her at random moments of her heroin addiction, sex addiction, and broken marriage.

At times Jean-Marc Vallée makes overly artistic choices that feel tonally at odds with the material, much like his previous effort Dallas Buyers Club. But Wild is an infinitely better movie than that offensive bit of white savior cinema. The symbols of the fox and diseased horse are on the nose, but he wisely taps into Hornby’s obsession with how music and literature influence our personal lives. Various songs and pieces of literature weave in and out of Strayed’s memories, bringing about images of her joys and sorrows.

Dern and Witherspoon turn in some very fine work. Dern in particular only has about ten minutes worth of screen time, but she lingers in your mind. An actress who is capable of both great restraint and the ability to go manically broad, Dern here appears to emotional strip down to the very basics, effectively becoming the bruised soul of the entire film. Witherspoon must carry the entire film on her shoulders, and she makes it look effortless. She easily reveals deep pools of fury, rage, and self-destruction before flipping the script and witnessing this woman’s healing journey. Witherspoon never shows all of her cards, preferring to lay them down slowly and with deliberate, methodical purpose. At the very end, Wild reveals a hopeful spirit trying valiantly to fight against the endless hurt that has taken residence in her soul. It’s a moving piece of work.

When was the last time I saw something really impressive starring Reese Witherspoon? Well, a while back, I guess, so only therefore it was already worth it to watch this movie. To be honest, after watching a couple of times 'Into the wild', a movie with not only a very similar title but also an almost identical plot, I find it rather difficult to really love this movie. I mean, it was good, I really liked it, Reese Witherspoon gave one of her best performances and, yet, it was missing something to be become really remarkable. For example, the back and forth in time made sense since she was thinking about all those moments in her life while hiking but it didn't make for a really satisfaying viewing. I mean, as a result, you get some half-baked moments which totally made sense for the character because she experienced it but not for the viewers since they were not there. On top of that, I had a hard time to swallow that most of the men she met were described as some potentially evil threat (one of the exceptions was some hunk played by some Dutch actor and, of course, she ends up in bed with the guy). To conclude, not everything did work but it was still a decent drama and it is definitely worth a look.

OK when you're just in the company of Reese and the wilderness, but the flashbacks structure kills the magic (even its Laura Dern in them).People she meets in the trial are OK too.

Nothing really wild about this film about redemption and accepting to live with your past. Decent movie. Good stuff. (The book was way much better imho.)

It's good to see Reese Witherspoon back on the boat again. This reminded me of a mixture of Into the Wild, Tracks, and 127 Hours. I think this is definitely one of her top roles as I think she gave a range of emotions and scenarios. She truly plays against type and owns it perfectly. Also it helps that she is still quite gorgeous with a rocking body to match. This was a tragic adventure about finding oneself after being lost for so long. It had a lot of humor mixed in through all of emotional strings it pulls. It has some of the most depressing scenes/elements that just really make you wince at the chaos she lived through. One of the funniest scenes had to be the hobo scene. It was quite an interesting adventure filled with interesting supporting characters left and right. I do wish the mother had been cast differently as I'm not really a fan of Laura Dern. Also Cheryl Strayed of course has a small role in the film which is pretty cool. I think she must have been consulted a lot because either they found exact duplicates of her clothes or her actual clothes were used for the movie. Also I think Reese Witherspoon was a perfect choice in the way of looks. This was a very inspirational story that proves people can change if they are determined. Jean-Marc Vallee in my opinion is really proving himself in Hollywood and I'm sure will be highly anticipated for future films. I thoroughly enjoyed this and recommend checking it out for sure.