Wild

Movie Information

The Story: Fact-based story of Cheryl Strayed, based on her memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail.  The Lowdown: A strong performance from Reese Witherspoon, a solid screenplay by Nick Hornby and assuredly creative direction by Jean-Marc Vallée make Wild a very good movie indeed.
Score:

Genre: Fact-Based Drama
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Thomas Sadoski, Gaby Hoffmann, Keene McRae, W. Earl Brown
Rated: R

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One of the more pleasant surprises of awards season — where studios inundate viewers and critics with what they perceive as their “best efforts” — is Jean-Marc Vallée’s Wild. This is not to say that the film isn’t on the Oscar-bait side, but then so is everything else of note at this time of year. And I won’t deny that this tale of self-discovery has some issues — like at least two more mystical CGI foxes than should be allowed by law. Nor will I pretend that a large part of the movie’s raison d’etre isn’t to reinvent Reese Witherspoon as a daring, edgy actress. But the truth is it kind of does, though not because she takes her clothes off, has indiscriminate sex, does drugs, makes disastrous life choices and is a serial adulteress. No, it’s because she allows herself to be deglamorized. Agreeing to lighten her load by jettisoning her deodorant, she admits, “I stink. I stink all the time, and my armpits are the least of it.” That may be the least glamorous thing ever said by a lead actress in the history of film, and it is only one example.

 

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While I am not against Witherspoon in general, neither can I call myself a fan, and she was my primary concern going into Wild. Yes, it’s partly her trademark perkiness, which is not an issue here at all (nor is it one in the upcoming Inherent Vice). But it’s more the pitch of her voice that tends to grate on me when it reaches a point near what only dogs can hear. That only happens once in Wild — she screams, “Fuck you, bitch!” at a boot that has fallen off a mountain — and it’s at about the two-minute mark, so it’s over and done with quickly. It’s rather like pulling a Band-Aid — or in her character’s case, a toenail — off quickly. After that, she never irritated me. I think it’s because Witherspoon has chosen to reinvent — or at least radically expand — herself in a story that is about reinvention — not only for her character, Cheryl Strayed, but for Cheryl’s mother, Bobbi (Laura Dern). It all feels very personal.

 

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However, this tale of Cheryl Strayed — perhaps ill-advisedly, certainly ill-preparedly — hiking the Pacific Coast Trail in an attempt to rediscover herself (or “the woman my mother thought I was,” as the film has it), is not just a Reese Witherspoon show, even if she is carrying the bulk of it. Credit must be given to Jean-Marc Vallée’s direction and Nick Hornby’s screenplay, which at least feels like it had input from Vallée or was broken down by him — much of the structure and approach resembles Vallée’s Dallas Buyers Club from last year. The funny thing is while I think Dallas Buyers Club the better film, I think Wild is both better made and makes more successful and important use of the often very brief flashbacks that are common to both films. Here — where we’re just dropped into the story with no background — these cutaways actually establish Strayed’s past and the events that have led to this journey. In Dallas Buyers Club they mostly just reiterate things we already knew. The fact that we only understand Strayed in bits and pieces — much like Strayed — makes her journey our own.

 

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Wild is also a very well-crafted movie in other respects. It’s interesting that the inevitable target a woman undertaking this trek alone will (with minimal melodrama) become, the idea is first put forth by a low-minded motel desk clerk (Beth Hall), who immediately assumes that a woman alone must be on the make. That this attitude is expressed by another woman makes the moment stand out. Also, the soundtrack is beautifully applied, especially the use of Simon and Garfunkel’s “El Condor Pasa (If I Could)” as a recurring theme that we’re teased with before we hear the song. Frankly, I thought this was a song I’d had a sufficiency of by 1971, but here it feels almost new again — familiar, but just right. Truthfully, “just right” largely describes the whole film to me, even with its occasional missteps. A great movie? Probably not, but a very good one. Rated R for sexual content, nudity, drug use and language.

 

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About Ken Hanke
Head film critic for Mountain Xpress from December 2000 until his death in June 2016. Author of books "Ken Russell's Films," "Charlie Chan at the Movies," "A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series," "Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker."

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5 thoughts on “Wild

  1. William Chase

    So I’m guessing The Carolina made a mistake because they have Foxcatcher and The interview coming this week on their coming soon page. I was really looking forward to the former, but I guess I’ll check out Wild based on your review.

    • Ken Hanke

      Foxcatcher was supposed to be this week, but it got moved to Jan. 19 by the studio. (Probably wise when you consider what’s opening this week and next.) The Interview is a Christmas Day release.

  2. mtndancer

    The structure may be enhanced by the screenplay but it began with the book. The book begins with her at that point of desperation with the boot and uses flashbacks throughout the journey to flesh out what brought her to that point in her life. Great book and looking forward to movie.
    On another note, I’m not sure why her nude scenes are making news. Her skin had ample screen time in Twilight.

    • Ken Hanke

      I thought I had indicated — possibly in another context — that I hadn’t read the book, so I couldn’t comment on that. If the movie merely duplicates the book, it’s a startling case of director and material being perfectly matched. As for the nudity (which I think is only a small part of what makes it out of character), it’s probably noteworthy now because Twilight is from 1998, lost money, vanished fast, and was before Witherspoon became a star. This role is coming after she became best known for being in rom-coms — with occasionally (generally less financially successful) meatier roles. What I find more interesting is that there has been less complaining (from the general, not critical populace) about the nudity than about the language.

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