Vast expanses of serrated mountains are accompanied by Eddie Vedder's instantly recognizable treble in the opening scene; the cold air palpable as the audience partakes in the protagonist's vulnerable awe.
"Into the Wild" is a powerful journey that traverses the United States and celebrates its natural breathtaking beauty.
Directed by Sean Penn and adapted from the novel by Jon Krakauer, the film is based on the last years of DC-area native Christopher McCandless. Emile Hirsch ("The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys," "The Girl Next Door") stars as Chris, a privileged son of wealthy parents and a recent graduate of Emory University. Chris subverts his parents' plan for him to enter Harvard Law School by cutting up his credit and identification cards, donating all of his money to Oxfam, and driving west. Armed with the words of Thoreau and Tolstoy, he abandons his car and becomes a "leather tramp," walking, hitching and kayaking his way across the country. He soon abandons his given name as well, renaming himself "Alexander Supertramp" as a symbol of his rebirth.
Although Hirsch has his own easy charm and an affability with everyone he meets, the other characters add another dimension to the film. Vince Vaughan ("Wedding Crashers") appears as Wayne, a wheat combine-operator who takes "Alex" under his wing. Alex clearly enjoys the days of hard labor and the nights in the bar with rowdy men, especially compared to his parents' stuffy world of facades. Vaughan holds up brilliantly as a supporting actor, as do Catherine Keener and Brian Dierker as Jan and Rainey, a couple he meets on the road.
Wayne and Jan act as parental figures for Alex in his great quest for truth. He, in turn, serves as a surrogate son for them since Jan's own son disappeared, paralleling what Alex has done to his parents.
At first, Alex's disappearance jolts his parents out of their upper-middle class suburban existence, and his continued silence throws their entire world into despair. The anguish he causes his parents and sister Carine (Jena Malone) is perhaps "necessary" to his mission to escape society, and the only aspect of his personality that isn't likeable.
As the movie progresses it becomes apparent that Alex has a habit of hurting those who love him.
During the chapter of his journey entitled "Getting Wisdom," he meets Ron Franz (excellently portrayed by Hal Holbrook), a leather craftsmen and another father figure for Alex. Having lost his son and wife in a drunk driving accident, Ron is a reformed alcoholic ex-military man. At their parting, he wants to adopt Alex. Alex artfully sidesteps his request by asking, "Can we talk about this when I get back from Alaska?" Ron, understanding and unselfish, humbly replies, "Yes." He knows that Alex might not come back, but more importantly, he realizes that Alex does not want to be adopted. The last words Alex says to Ron are, "Thank you" before he walks away determinedly, pack on his back, oblivious to the tear streaming down Ron's weathered cheek. It is not the first time Alex touches someone he meets on his travels, nor is it the first time he breaks that someone's heart, but it may have been the last.
The human spirit that the film captures is not only Alex's fierce independence and love of the great outdoors, of the wide open space, of the wild. It also depicts the spirits of everyone he meets, their openness to his unhindered charisma, the life wisdom that they impart to him, and of other travelers in search of their own great happiness.
This warmth of spirit is apparent in Alex's writing at the end. "Happiness," he writes when close to death, "is real only when shared."
"Into the Wild" is playing at the Patriot/ Nickelodean Cinema 1-6 in Portland: (Patriot Cinemas) 1 Temple St., at 1:20 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m.