The supporting performances in these sections are outstanding, from Catherine Keener’s hippie road warrior to Vince Vaughn’s law-breaking farmer to Hal Holbrook’s weary retiree. Holbrook’s Oscar nomination seemed like one of those random, somewhat undeserved supporting nominations until I actually saw his performance. It’s a small role, but the pathos he infuses into his character is highly impressive. His nomination was well deserved.
Marcia Gay Harden and William Hurt don’t do much except argue and become highly emotional, which is exactly the kind of part Harden likes to play. Jena Malone is fantastic as McCandless’s younger sister, and her narration is weaved throughout the film to demonstrate the pain she feels at her brother simply leaving and never contacting her.
Much has been made of the fact that McCandless is too selfish to identify with, but that is simply not the case. Certainly his character demonstrates little concern for anyone but himself. Is he selfish? Yes, but he’s also driven, and driven people often forget to consider others. This makes his character imperfect, but not impossible to identify with.
Ultimately, Into the Wild isn’t a character study anyway. Penn never lets the audience get too close or know too much about these characters. Even though McCandless is the centerpiece, we never really get to know him. His motivations for making the kind of journey he does are not clear. This is a film about his experience, about the journey, about the open road. It wouldn’t be a stretch to call the film poetic and it’s one of the most visually artistic releases of 2007 (trailing only behind The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.) Penn truly has created a masterpiece.
Into the Wild is available as a barebones single-disc version and a two-disc collector’s edition.
Article comments
1 - patrick
McCandless's story is tragic, but then so many people have benefited from hearing it... a couple of years of hitchhiking led to his story challenging thousands (millions?) of people to reexamine their lives