Starring: Emile Hirsch, Hal Holbrook, William Hurt, Vince Vaughn
Director: Sean Penn

There’s something about this story that will appeal to any young man on the threshold of adulthood. Standing there, between a life without responsibility and a life chock-full with it, he inevitably finds himself thinking about what he could do and what he should do. This is a tale of one such man – done with high school, all set to move on to Harvard Law, everything seemingly going smoothly, he suddenly decides to cut loose and realize where he stands.

Sean Penn directs this fascinating movie based on Christopher McCandless’s life. Christopher, or Alexander Supertramp, as he decides to call himself, took a walk on and in the wild side, with disastrous consequences. Partly narrated by his sister, and partly by himself through his journals, McCandless undertakes a quest to live by truth – absolute, unforgiving truth. Armed with advice and support from friends he’s made along the way, all of whom try to steer our wayward hero home and fail, and a couple of ideals extolled by Thoreau, McCandless’s decides to abandon society to itself, to not join the rat-race, and above all, to be free. His obsession with the mendacity of society (Ah, the foul stench of mendacity – words immortalized by Tennessee Williams in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof that could easily fit in this tale) and its obsession, in turn, with money, leads him on a roller-coaster of a journey across the continent with nothing but what he can carry on his back. His purpose – to live out in the Alaskan wilderness on his own and pit himself against mother nature in a deadly battle of survival.

For a first-time director, Penn handles the camera with an ease akin to Clint Eastwood (perhaps the latter made a strong impression on him during Mystic River?). He pulls no punches – we see the glory that McCandless’s strives for, we see the bitter struggle he goes through, we empathise, we sympathise. Above all else, we are torn between cheering him on and begging him to return home, to realize that society is not all bad, that there are still things worth living for, worth bearing with, and worth fighting for. A powerhouse soundtrack by Eddie Vedder (of Pearl Jam fame) accentuates every shot and every scene. The melancholy tone seems to echo not only what McCandless feels, but also what we do. Sterling supporting turns by Holbrook and Vaughn not only enhance the reality of the experience, but serve as a strong backdrop for Hirsch’s naïveté to shine through, making his portrayal of McCandless flawless and natural. We believe him to be McCandless so completely that when we are finally shown the real Christopher McCandless, it jars us slightly – we almost feel cheated that what we’ve seen and been through is the story of one man, and not the man himself.

Despite everything that happens, we are still left in awe of McCandless and his strength to hold to his lofty ideals. The destructive spiral he slips into is forgivable, as it is the only path we can imagine for one striving to be pure. If this reviewer had to pick a few words that he would want you to take away with you, it would be these:
Watch this movie. Take a walk. Breathe deep.
And repeat.