Lost and profound

>> Jon Krakauer’s off-the-grid bestseller
Into the Wild is director Sean Penn’s
most accomplished film

by MATTHEW HAYS

It’s difficult to believe that the same man who once starred in Fast Times at Ridgemont High and who used to bone Madonna is behind Into the Wild. But Sean Penn, who finally won an Oscar for his operatic performance in Mystic River, has evolved into something of a filmmaking force himself, and his best movie yet has just arrived.

Into the Wild is an entirely unexpected feature, in large part because of its somewhat tangential narrative structure. Based on the Jon Krakauer book of the same name, the film recounts the true story of Christopher McCandless, a young man who, upon graduating with top grades from the prestigious Emory University, decides to step decisively off the grid and reject all that ugly materialism we’ve become obsessed with (if only someone had guided him to a tasteful shopping district, all of this could have been avoided).

As played by Emile Hirsch, our protagonist is an unbelievably idealistic young man, one who feels repulsed by his parents’ ambitions for him. Played by William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden, Hirsch’s folks are cold, unthinking, and feel the answer to their son’s prayers lies in the keys to a new car. Hirsch can’t stand the thought of Harvard law school; everything about life in contemporary America feels false, empty and hypocritical. (Set during the first Gulf War, Penn is sure to include telltale images of televisions broadcasting Iraq invasion reports.)

Into the Wild then takes us on a road journey in which Hirsch ventures to Alaska to rough it. Despite numerous warnings, Hirsch just feels that he wants to be alone with his books and be at one with nature. Along the way, he encounters some hippies, a petty crook and an old man who makes leather belts.

Into the Wild represents a massive detour for Penn, and many won’t like the film’s decidedly off-kilter approach to a storyline. But I would argue it’s Penn’s most accomplished film, one made with his own intention to step off the Hollywood studio grid and do something truly iconoclastic. As with his central figure, we don’t always understand him, but we appreciate his guts.

Into the Wild opens
this Friday, Oct. 5

>> Movie Listings