Into the Wild (2007) – 3.5/5
Nicely shot and not over the top “free spirit” feel. I like the perspective they give on an interesting story w/o hitting you over the head w/ some perceived message derived by Sean Penn to force on the viewer.
SPOILERS
I didn’t realize this was based on a true story until the end so that changed a lot. I’m glad I didn’t know (so I made this a spoiler). I did think it was a little hypocritical that he didn’t want so many ‘worldly’ things (and even burned his money), but then didn’t seem consistent in that: He lived in a bus in ‘the wild’ and took jobs to get money later, etc. No biggie, but it seemed like a mixed message.
That’s not to say I didn’t like it. I did. But it was confusing.
I liked how he stuck to his intentions and worked towards them. It’s an unfortunate ending and I’m glad they didn’t try to spoon feed us any kind of ‘message’ about it all.
Haiku Summary
Kid goes off to leave
the world. He does it! Mistake
and he dies… happy.
NEXT: “Horton Hears a Who!” (2008)