Review of Into the Wild (2007) by Rutter — 27 Oct 2007
I read this book several years ago...a few comments... The movie leaves you with a distinctly different impression than the book. The book for me was sort of a cautionary tale about romanticizing the whole high minded spiritual view of Chris.
In the movie he was an idealist, living life on his terms, and died tragically when he found the TRUE meaning of life, touching many along the way. The book was a little bit more sort of cynical of these types.
..Nature is harsh, maybe civilization is not such a bad thing...it exists so we don't starve/freeze to death, so quit your whining about the ills of society and learn to live with those around you.
..running away is not an answer. Maybe it is this interpretation of his life that was needed to get the cooperation of his family, I don't know. At least for me, I left the book with the "wanna be hippy dumbass over-estimates himself and under-estimates nature" and you took a sort of perverse thrill in reading about him getting his due.
The main actor was ok, but to me didn't convey the character I read about in the book. He is pretty light in the charisma department, but his gig seems to be walking around with a wide-eyed smile and then losing a bunch of weight.
.ehh. The character in the book came off more 3-dimensional than was pulled off here. Ok movie, but if you are like a lot of people and have this notion of throwing it all away and living an idyllic life, read the book.
..it still gives you a lot to think about but filters in a certain grim reality this movie seemed to miss. The Movie itself is entertaining enough..you can enjoy it on it's own merits or you could also choose to read the book, but be warned, you will walk away with two different experiences.
This review of Into the Wild (2007) was written by Rutter on 27 Oct 2007.
Into the Wild has generally received very positive reviews.
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