"INTO THE WILD"

Directed and written by: Sean Penn
Running time: 2 hours 29 minutes
Release date: September 21, 2007
Genre: BioPic, Drama
Distributor: Paramount Vantage
MPAA Rating: R

This true story is based on the best-selling book with the same title by Jon Krakauer and the film is narrated by Carine McCandless. Carine is the sister of top student and athlete Christopher McCandless (played by Emile Hirsch) who graduated from Emory University in 1992.

Christopher McCandless as a man in his early 20's abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to experience life in Alaska. The documentary style film chronicles Christopher's series of encounters with various characters that shaped his life.

Each strand on his journey is divided into five parts; the first being Birth, second examining Adolescence, third his growth to Manhood, fourth is his finding Family and lastly the Final Chapter: Getting of Wisdom. The portrait of Chris' life is an insatiable yearning for family, home and connection as it is the search for truth and happiness.

Chris McCandless' quest book (diary) took him from the wheat fields of South Dakota, to a renegade trip down the Colorado River, to the non-conformist' refuge camp of Slab City, California and beyond. This when and where he encountered a series of colorful people in American society that shaped his life during his life quest. In the end he tested himself by heading alone into the wilds of the great North, where everything he had seen, learned and felt, came to a head in ways he never could have expected.

This film reverted the book readers to a visual walk through this young man's life. The probing investigation in the life and death of affluent 24-year-old Christopher gives real meaning to his actions. In my opinion, living without boundaries can be exhilarating, but as human beings living in society we will have backlashes without these boundaries. With a "star-clustered" supporting cast of Vince Vaugh, Kristen Stewart, Jena Malone, Willian Hurt, Catherine Keener, Marcia Gay Harden, Zach Galifianakis and Hal Holbrook, this movie proved to be heartwarming and magnificent.

A-