Review of All the Wilderness (2014) by Tatsuhito K — 10 Jun 2015

First-time writer/director Michael Johnson falls back on coming-of-age clichés. But overall, his sensitive, moody camerawork and the cast's strong performances go a long way toward making the familiar feel fresh. Kodi Smit-McPhee is excellent as James, a lost teen struggling to find solid ground after his father dies, in this drama that gets inside its young hero's rebellious mind. All the Wilderness seems tailor-made to play to the actor's strengths - Johnson's script is as lean as Smit-McPhee, both proving adept at doing more with less. The material is undeniably shopworn, but Johnson's spin on it is low-key and vivid. All the Wilderness is filled with moody grace notes, namely Malick-inflected nature shots and poetic asides delivered via voice-over. Debuting writer-director Michael Johnson wrangles uniformly solid performances from his cast. The images gorgeously embody both the fear and the beauty of James's exploratory experiments with socialization. The camera of cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra swoops beautifully through the canopy of foliage James explores, and captures the bruising colors of Portland in the early hours or at dusk. But in the midst of all this well-executed photography, atmosphere, and a well-pitched performance from Smit-Mcphee, there's a story to tell, and it's unfortunately it's ultimately very slight.

VERDICT: "In The Zone" - [Mixed Reaction] These kinds of movies are usually movies that had some good things, but some bad things kept it from being amazing. This rating says buy an ex-rental or a cheap price of the DVD to own. If you consider cinema, ask for people's opinion on the film. (Films that are rated 2.5 or 3 stars).