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Wild (2014)
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
Writers: Nick Hornby, Cheryl Strayed(book)
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern
Genre: Biography Drama
Length: 115 minutes
Premise: Based on the autobiography by Cheryl Strayed. A woman who after the death of her mom becomes a junkie and sex addict. Cheryl decides to make a clean break from her past by undertaking an arduous 1000 mile hike on the Pacific Coast Trail.
Review: I've hiked on a small section of the Pacific Crest Trail so I thought this would be an introspective movie about one woman's conquering of the vast 1000 miles of this multi state trail. I thought we would learn how she overcame hardship to find inner strength and peace. Wild is nothing like the one man act movie Castaway which gave us deep insight into loneliness and survival. I don't think I've ever seen a more poorly executed story than Wild.
Flash backs...this movie has more flash backs inter-cut with the main hiking story than I've ever seen. The flash backs come at the most impromptu times, breaking any sense of awe and loneliness that the hiking scenes might have shown us. We don't hardly see the trail at all. Instead we get flash backs of Cheryl (Reese Witherspoon) using heroin and having multiple sex partners in a back alley. The director relies on graphic shocking scenes to give the audiences some emotional jolt. This is film making at it's poorest.
One might think there would be stunning cinematography in a film like this. Think again. The camera work is blase. Oh sure there is the natural beauty of the Pacific Crest Trail but it's not shot with any artistry.
Reese Witherspoon doesn't get to do much here and that's odd as it's a one person show. Mainly we get her mumbling to her self about how much she hates the hike. Just to add drama, the script includes her meeting up with some leering, lonely men on the trail. Practically ever cliche that can happen does.
I found this movie unrewarding.
Wild (2014)
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
Writers: Nick Hornby, Cheryl Strayed(book)
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern
Genre: Biography Drama
Length: 115 minutes
Premise: Based on the autobiography by Cheryl Strayed. A woman who after the death of her mom becomes a junkie and sex addict. Cheryl decides to make a clean break from her past by undertaking an arduous 1000 mile hike on the Pacific Coast Trail.
Review: I've hiked on a small section of the Pacific Crest Trail so I thought this would be an introspective movie about one woman's conquering of the vast 1000 miles of this multi state trail. I thought we would learn how she overcame hardship to find inner strength and peace. Wild is nothing like the one man act movie Castaway which gave us deep insight into loneliness and survival. I don't think I've ever seen a more poorly executed story than Wild.
Flash backs...this movie has more flash backs inter-cut with the main hiking story than I've ever seen. The flash backs come at the most impromptu times, breaking any sense of awe and loneliness that the hiking scenes might have shown us. We don't hardly see the trail at all. Instead we get flash backs of Cheryl (Reese Witherspoon) using heroin and having multiple sex partners in a back alley. The director relies on graphic shocking scenes to give the audiences some emotional jolt. This is film making at it's poorest.
One might think there would be stunning cinematography in a film like this. Think again. The camera work is blase. Oh sure there is the natural beauty of the Pacific Crest Trail but it's not shot with any artistry.
Reese Witherspoon doesn't get to do much here and that's odd as it's a one person show. Mainly we get her mumbling to her self about how much she hates the hike. Just to add drama, the script includes her meeting up with some leering, lonely men on the trail. Practically ever cliche that can happen does.
I found this movie unrewarding.