Taking A Heartfelt Hike With Reese Witherspoon In WILD

WILD (Dir. Jean-Marc Vallée, 2014)

In this new addition to the “becoming one with nature” genre that includes INTO THE WILD, 127 HOURS, and THE WALK, Reese Witherspoon stars as Cheryl Strayed, a writer who in 1995 alone hiked the 1,000 mile Pacific Crest Trail. Strayed, who chronicled the journey in her 2012 memoir “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail,” was looking to wipe her spiritual slate clean after her mother's passing, and her divorce caused by her adultery and drug abuse.

The role marks a strong comeback for Witherspoon after appearing in a string of forgettable films (with the exception of MUD, that one was good) since winning the Oscar for her lovely performance as June Carter in the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic WALK THE LINE.

After an opening flash forward involving an almost beaten down Witherspoon at the top of a mountain screaming in frustration, we go back to “Day 1” as a title tells us. The inexperienced hiker sets off on the trail through the Mojave Desert with a ginormous overstuffed backpack, boots that are the wrong size, and the wrong cooking gas for her portable stove. Yes, our former heroin addict heroine has a lot to learn.

Throughout Witherspoon's trip, she has many flashbacks in which we get a sense of her messy marriage (her husband is played by Thomas Sadoski who you might know as Don on the thankfully concluded HBO series The Newsroom), and get to spend some time with her mother played by Laura Dern in one of her most vital, and real feeling pieces of acting.

Being a young, pretty woman on her own, Witherspoon's Cheryl is as fearful of male strangers she encounters as she is of the treacherous elements of the wilderness. Luckily she meets mostly friendly folks such as an older couple (W. Earl Brown and Jan Hoag) who fix her up with a hot meal and a shower one night, Kevin Rankin as a helpful fellow hiker that she happens upon skinny dipping, and Michiel Huisman (Treme, Game of Thrones) who invites her to a Jerry Garcia tribute show (she winds up in the hippy-saturated town of Ashland, Oregon the day after Garcia's death in '95).

But then there are the two creepy hunters who give off an undeniable rape vibe deep in the woods in California, and the Park Ranger (Brian Van Holt) who makes something of an attempt to pick up Witherspoon, so it's not all smooth sailing (or happy hiking).

Working from a sharp, layered screenplay by Nick Hornby (HIGH FIDELITY, ABOUT A BOY, AN EDUCATION), director Vallée (DALLAS BUYER'S CLUB) gives Strayed's story immense emotional momentum. It engrossingly gets more powerful as it gets deeper into its protagonist's back story, particularly in dealing with her free spirited mother's deterioration and death from cancer.

It's not without humor either. A title that announces that it's “Day fucking 36” of the 95 day trek made me laugh out laugh, as did Mo McRae as a reporter from the Hobo Times who mistakes Witherspoon for, well, a hobo.

I've never been more affected by Witherspoon as an actress. She remoulds her squeaky clean image into an authentic feeling human being that you want to root for. I'm not sure if she deserves another Oscar for it, but it's quite an impressive performance that I bet will surprise a lot of people.

But without a doubt Dern's turn has Best Supporting Actress written all over it. Since it's been over 2 decades since she's gotten any notice from the Academy (she was nominated in '92 for RAMBLING ROSE), here's hoping her wonderful work here won't be ignored. That goes for Hornby's excellent screenwriting too.

With its vast terrain beautifully shot by cinematographer Yves Bélanger, its abundance of heartfelt acting, and its gripping portrayal of sheer determination, WILD is an heartfelt hike worth taking.

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Current Indie Films Offer Big Stars Without The Blockbuster Bombast

You don’t have to wait for the summer super hero sequel season (kicking off this Friday with IRON MAN 3) to see big name stars for a bunch of them are currently starring in indie films at your local art house. 

For instance, Derek Cianfrance’s (BLUE VALENTINE) highly touted crime drama THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES, now in its 3rd week in the Triangle area, boasts star turns by Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper. 

The film tells a story set in the town of Schenectady, New York, that spans 3 character threads. Gosling’s scenario involves the bleach blonde pretty boy turning to a life of crime (robbing banks with the help of his circus-honed motorcycling skills) in order to support the year old baby that former flame Eva Mendes just told him he is the father of.

One of Gosling’s robberies is foiled by Cooper as a young law student turned cop and then his scenario begins. Cooper takes advantage of his hero status to further his career, realizing the system’s just too damn corrupt (mostly in the form of a slimy, us usual, Ray Liotta - could Liotta ever play a cop that’s not corrupt?).

The third act has Cooper’s kid (Emory Cohen) growing up to be a troubled teenager who befriends a fellow student, Dane Dehan, who turns out to be Gosling’s kid. Gosling’s and Cooper’s acts crackle with energy, but the final act lost me. It felt like it could have been incorporated into the second story-line or at least not be so drawn out. Perhaps it simply lacked the star power of the first two thirds. Whatever the case, the film has just enough storytelling drive to make it worthwhile.

Nobody could accuse Robert Redford’s new political drama THE COMPANY YOU KEEP, which opened last Friday in Raleigh, of lacking star power. Apart from Redford’s lead role, there’s Shia Labeouf, Susan Sarandon, Nick Nolte, Chris Cooper, Julie Christie, Richard Jenkins, Stephen Root, and indie darling Brit Marling. Sadly though, all this talent can’t save the film from Redford’s tired soapboxing as you can read in my review “Redford’s Vanity Project THE COMPANY YOU KEEP Is A Star-Studded Dud” (4/26/13).

Much better is Jeff Nichols’ MUD, with Matthew McConaughey in the title role, also in its first week in the Triangle. 

McConaughey, a little less confident than usual yet still somewhat slick,  plays an outlaw on the lam, living on an island in the middle of Arkansas' Lower White River, who is discovered by a couple of kids (Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland). The kids help the fugitive get a boat down out of a tree (“that’s a hell of thing” McConaughey keeps saying about the boat’s predicament) and back in commission so he can escape with the love of his life, a redneck floozy played by Reese Witherspoon (the role couldn’t be more timely with her recent brush with the law and all). 

There a few glaring narrative conveniences - the kids seem to happen upon Witherspoon too easily, and later come to her hotel room at just the right time when she’s being roughed by a thug played by Stuart Greer for a few examples - but they could reasonably be chalked up to small town coincidences I reckon.

MUD is a mostly engrossing Southern drama driven by its superb cast, including Sam Shepherd, Nichols’ TAKE SHELTER star Michael Shannon, Joe Don Baker, Sarah Paulson, and Ray McKinnon, and its thoughtful screenplay by Nichols. 

But in a cast of recognizable faces, the 15 year old newcomer Sheridan, who could be considered the film’s true protagonist, stands out. Nichols’ has given the kid thematic weight in the form of a belief in love - a belief in danger of being squashed by a crush on an older girl (Bonnie Sturdivant) and the fact that his mother (Paulson) is divorcing his father (McKinnon) - but Sheridan carries it with poise.

So, if you’re looking for alternatives to the coming tidal wave of CGI-saturated blockbuster-wannabes on the big screen, THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES and MUD will provide the stars without the bombast. 

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