Wild (2014)
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Thomas Sadoski
Biography, drama
115 min
Wild is a true story based on Sheryl Strayed’s autobiographical novel of the same name. After her mother’s sudden death from cancer, Sheryl turns into drugs and one-night stands for consolation. When her marriage breaks down, she decides to clear her head and finally become the woman her mother always wanted and believed her to be, and heads down to the Pacific Crest Trail, a 1,100 mile hike from the Mojave Desert all the way to the Oregon-Washington border. With no experience whatsoever and with the company of only “the Monster”, her oversized backpack that is too heavy for her to lift, she starts her three month journey towards Oregon and herself.
Although we all love Reese Witherspoon’s silly rom com characters, such as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, it is refreshing to see her do a more serious role for a change. Not that this is her first one, after all, she won an Oscar for her role as June Carter in 2006’s Walk the Line and this spring she’s also featuring in The Good Lie, a film about Sudanese refugees in Kansas City. Still, it is Wild that could do the same to her career as Dallas Buyers Club (of the same director, Jean-Marc Vallée) did to Matthew McConaughey’s, namely, turn her into a believable drama actor instead of being just the pretty as a picture rom com face. In Wild, Witherspoon depicts Sheryl as a college kid and a woman in her late twenties, as a promising student and as a heroin and a sex addict. Even though Witherspoon is 38 years old, and Laura Dern, who plays Sheryl’s mother Bobbi, is only ten years older, they still make quite a believable mother-daughter pair. And what a pair they are! As much as Wild is about Sheryl’s journey, it is also very much about mother-daughter relationships and the love that families share.
For me, Wild is the most inspiring novel that I have ever read. That’s why I’m sad to say that I was a little disappointed with the film as it focuses mainly on the events that lead to Sheryl’s hike and not so much on the hike itself or the impact it had on Sheryl. I would have loved to see Sheryl more in the wild and focus on her personal growth and the way she evolved from someone with absolutely no hiking experience, to someone who walked 1,100 miles all by herself with shoes too small. Still, the transitions between scenes and different time frames work smoothly most of the time and the filming is beautiful, giving an almost dream (or high) kind of feeling to the film. However, since the film does focus mostly on the past, Sheryl’s transition from a traditional “good girl” to a heroin and sex abuser would have needed more exploration as it now feel slightly unbelievable, even if we know it to be a true story.
Wild is a great combination of feminism (a strong, seriously in-depth female lead character – applause, anyone?), vulnerability and resilience. Even though it is all about overcoming hardships, it is not overly sentimental, which can be seen either as a good or bad thing. For someone who usually cries watching The Bachelor, I was a little surprised that I didn’t feel teary even when Sheryl found out about her mother’s death. Reading the book, I resembled more of a waterfall than anything else. Also, even though the film is beautifully shot and refreshingly simplistic, I still wish it would have been just a tiny bit more interesting, as the novel is of the sort that you cannot let go of your hands. However, if you want to see some great scenery and Reese Witherspoon giving the performance of her life, go see it! Preferably with your mother.