Review of Wild (2014) by Sam K — 16 Jun 2015

Great performances from Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern! The editing here is also noteworthy for its fluid, thematic intercutting of protagonist, Cheryl's (Witherspoon) flashbacks and her harrowing, thousand-mile hike in the "present.".

Unfortunately, the film is too often derailed for me by preachy feminist speeches, moments that read like infomercials for hiking the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail), and the countless, hokey, hippie characters offering contrived advice. These obnoxiously nice folks speak not so much to Cheryl, but (seemingly) to the imaginary PBS documentary crew filming them, and to their subsequent, juvenile audience. Indeed, there's lots of bad acting from supporting characters that she bumps into along the way. Something tells me the director cast a good chunk of this (mostly) trite film on location.

There's a good message of redemption here and a touching, gut-wrenching mother/daughter relationship that is, no doubt, relatable. Unfortunately, the film too often ventures into the cliched, and relies way too much on hokey expositional dialogue in the modern-day, hiking bits. These may sound like small quibbles, but they really, really take me out of the film.