NOTE: This is a reprint of my review from the Virginia Film Festival. Wild opens in DC on Friday, December 5th.
Penned by the great novelist Nick Hornby, who has written a book or two about personal redemption, Wild
details Strayed's extraordinary 1100-mile hike along the Pacific Crest
Trail, an attempt to walk herself away from a history of bad choice and
personal tragedies, in hopes of finding the woman she wants to be on the
other side. We've seen these kinds of stories before, in fact one very
recently in Tracks, which told nearly an identical true-life tale
of redemption. The two share much in common from an aesthetic and
thematic standpoint, but Wild is the more complete film by far, one that bristles with emotional resonance and enlightenment.
Beginning at a moment when her journey has taken an unexpectedly
precarious (and bloody) turn, the story then splits two-fold, one in the
present and another mostly in flashback. And there are plenty of
flashbacks; flashbacks of every kind, in fact, but all are necessary to
dot the points in Strayed's life that drove her to make such an
audacious decision. She's not a hiker; or at least not an experienced
one, and this is a dangerous trek for those who know what they're doing.
What's obvious right away is that something terrible must have
happened, either to her or caused by her, that led to this. When we see
her struggling to even begin the hike, literally stumbling under the
weight of her gigantic backpack (nicknamed "monster" by others), we know
it's just the start of an arduous ordeal that she may not walk away
from.
The particulars of her past are doled out in bits an pieces, flashes of
memory blurred with reality. In actuality they aren't all that hard to
figure out or understand. We see her loving and forgiving ex-husband
(Thomas Sadoski), who she cheated on with multiple men while on a
downward spiral of heroine abuse. The root cause of her self-destruction
concerns her angelic mother (Laura Dern), whom Strayed both loves and
begrudges. It's a little weird to think of Dern as Witherspoon's mother
considering how close they are in age, but it works because their
relationship they share is closer to that of siblings than mother and
daughter. Casting isn't the issue; both women are phenomenal here, in
particular Witherspoon in a grueling, captivating performance as vital
as anything you'll see all year.
More troublesome is the fractured narrative and redundant use of
flashback that makes it difficult for the film to find a steady rhythm.
It's a small price to pay for a deeper understanding of Strayed, and we
come to see the extent of her self-afflicted heartache. What's even more
fascinating is her attitude about the choices she's made, suggesting at
one point she'd do it all over again, the drugs and the random
hook-ups, not because they inform who she is now but because they were
enjoyable. They did what they were supposed to do which is serve as a
diversion, but if Strayed wants a future those behaviors simply can't
continue. Deeper shades of her personality peek out along the
way,especially during her interactions with others, who are almost
exclusively men. These encounters add a tinge of danger because, let's
face it, she's a woman out alone in the woods surrounded by guys who may
not have seen a female in months. So much about Wild works in just the
right ways that what doesn't tends to stand out. Strayed's quoting of
great poets comes off as a weak attempt at profundity which we never
really see in Strayed, while the occasional appearance of a spirit
animal is a little too on-the-nose for a film that strives so hard to
stay grounded elsewhere. 
Wild is another bold effort from Vallee, who directed Matthew McConaughey to an Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club.
He seems to have the touch for pulling career-defining performances out
of his stars (he gave Emily Blunt her breakout role in The Young Victoria),
and Witherspoon proves more than up to the task. Raw, emotionally and
physically fatigued, it's great to see her in something meaningful
again. She may no longer be America's sweetheart like she was years ago,
but roles like this could turn that around real quick. Beautiful
panoramic views aside, there's little to the cinematography truly
captures the dangerous terrain Strayed must tread; Mother Nature is
never the constant threat we would expect her to be. She's not much of a
threat at all, really. The real battle is within Strayed, urged by
others and sometimes herself to quit; the perseverance she shows is
infectious and makes us want to tag along on her journey.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
