Wild Review

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern

Wild is a film based off of the bestselling memoir by Cheryl Strayed. After suffering an enormous tragedy and engaging in years of reckless and self-destructive behavior, Cheryl decides to hike 1,100 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail in order to find closure, and atone for the choices she's made in life. Five years ago, Cheryl's mother died suddenly from cancer. Her mother was the love of her life, and her best friend and role model. And as a result of losing her, she spiraled out of control. She became addicted to heroin, and frequently cheated on her husband by engaging in promiscuous sex with anyone and everyone who asked. Which sparked a difficult breakup. And now she wants to hike her pain away. So Wild is in no way a happy movie. If you're looking for that, look away. This movie is an almost oppressive force as it jumps back between the past and present as she navigates her journey on the PCT. Right after I saw it, I had to wait awhile to sort through the feelings I had after watching. The movie wasn't a particularly upbeat movie for me, but it is a very good one.

The obvious standout of the film is Reese Witherspoon. A lot of her scenes feature her alone, so she's working off of no one. It's just her pure acting talent that really holds the movie together. I'm a fan of Reese Witherspoon, but she really shows off her abilities here. She's completely stripped down. No make-up was involved here. And she's in a way unlikeable, but incredibly relatable. Cheryl destroys her life when she feels like she no longer has one after her mother dies. It's a sad story, but one that I know a lot of people can relate to. The decision she makes to hike as a way to find herself, is one that a lot of people, myself included, can admire. With the loss of her mother (Laura Dern), she feels that this is the only option for her to forgive herself and finally become the woman her mother raised. Laura Dern is also great in her role. She's pretty good in most movies she's done lately (playing the mother in The Fault in Our Stars comes to mind here) and here, she makes you feel heartbroken over her death. She's an odd woman, but her bond with her daughter is indescribable. As you connect with Cheryl, you take on her pain. And you feel it all accumulate when she dies.

I read Cheryl Strayed's memoir before I saw the movie. I really enjoy to read the books before the movies. But in this case, I didn't like it. The book resonated with me so much that I would find myself sitting in bed after reading just thinking. Trying to comprehend that there is a person who has been through this. I could never read long passages because it would just feel too heavy. Maybe it's because of parallels with Cheryl's feelings and my own. I think all of us have a little regret, which makes her such a relatable person. I almost wrote "relatable character", but I had to remind myself that this is a true story. Seeing it onscreen for me, just wasn't quite like reading it. Maybe that's the power of words and a true example of why reading is so important. The movie wasn't ruined for me, in fact it follows the book pretty exactly. If you're skeptical, it literally takes almost everything from the book and displays it in the same fashion. It just lost some magic for me.

 The only problem I had with Wild that was film-related was the pacing. Maybe it was because of the material, maybe I was still tired from New Year's Eve, but I found it incredibly slow. Not that I was expecting it to be fast and exciting. Know what you're in for. You're watching Reese Witherspoon against the elements, and every once in awhile you'll get a flashback to her mother, or her having sex or doing drugs. Her drug and sex life are both pretty graphic, so if you're not into seeing that, I'm warning you. All in all, I thought it was an incredibly formidable film with great acting, that lagged a bit in the middle. It was really short but felt really long. But I can't argue, it was a great movie.

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