Review of Wild (2014) by Alan W — 02 Feb 2015

I would not have gone to see this if it wasn't for the 2 Oscars nominations, one deservedly for Reece Witherspoon for Best Actress, salvaging some of her credibility after various flops and misfires since her last win for Walk the Line; and one less so for Laura Dern (for Best Supporting Actress) which has probably more to do with her popularity amongst the voters.

But I think the real winner is Jean-Marc Vallée who has become the go-to director for prestigious Oscar-bait project (his last was Dallas Buyers' Club) taking slightly edgy indie drama material to movie stars who needs to prove that they can still act.

Instead of a conventional linear narrative, the film is given a unique feel by the use of fragmented flashbacks representing memories of her past as fleeting, often disjointed moments in her head. Those many moments thus thread through her journey, literally and metaphorically, on the Pacific Crest Trail, revealing to us not only her story but the different layers to her personality so that we can understand who she was and how she got there.