Review of Wild (2014) by Hans V — 24 Jan 2015

"F*ck you bitch!".

Having a true story doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to personally connect with it, however, shall we say real and as close to normal as it is. 'Wild' is an interesting true story in that it's not out of the realms of possibility that this could happen to someone - or something similar. Neither does the lack of shock and awe that true stories tend to grab audiences with make it any less interesting. Sometimes a story with normal things (well relatively) happening to normal things resulting in something normal makes for good stories.

Reese Witherspoon plays Cheryl a women who's marriage fell apart and mother has died. Sick of her own reckless and selfish behaviour she decides to walk the pacific crest trail alone to get her self back to the women her mother raised. The film follows Cheryl on the trail with flashbacks dispersed throughout as she remembers why she's doing the walk. I wasn't at first sure whether the flashbacks were in chronological order they seemed a little erratic to beginning with but they settle after some time. I didn't care much for the flashbacks as at around the halfway point they become a nuance when it was obvious a while ago what had happened and her reason for doing the trail.

No what grabbed my attention was the landscape and the people Cheryl encounters on the way. No one stays too long and the writer knows when to inject some humour to prevent it from being a bleak affair at times. All helped by a great performance from 'Reese Witherspoon', shining even more in the awkward and sad encounters. At times it may have lost my interest but it wasn't long before it brought it back.

I think I'll have to see it again at some point as I get the feeling my initial reaction my be a tad unkind. But that's what it is right now. Wild is a good film with an excellent central performance from Reese. Cheryl no only has a interesting life she also meets interesting people. But that's the story it was interesting to me not captivating, not fully engrossing. There a touch too many flashbacks for me creating a stutter in the pacing as well as an ending that's a little too brief for my liking. Still there's a lot to like and the trail she hikes is beautiful, I highly recommend this despite the score, the personal story didn't grab me but It might you.