Wild’: Reese Witherspoon finds herself first in dark places, then 1,100-mile hike
“Wild,” Cheryl Strayed’s wildly best-selling tale of redemption and re-rooting revolving around her 1,100-mile trek along the Pacific Crest Trail and descent into personal hell that preceded it, has been woven into a gauzy, cinematic veil of enchantment. This is mostly because of what the filmmakers choose not to do – in other hands the result could have been a generic chick flick or, worse, a Hallmark weepy with an A-lister on the bill – and how the narrative is pieced tartly together in an ingenious nonlinear fashion by writer Nick Hornby (“About a Boy”) and editor John Mac McMurphy (a pseudonym assumed by the director Jean-Marc Vallée, pulling double duty). Of course Reese Witherspoon as Strayed also deserves a lion share of the credit.
Vallée’s not the only person on “Wild” wearing two hats: Witherspoon bought the film rights to Strayed’s memoir and earns a producer’s cred as well. She’s dutiful as Strayed (not the writer’s given name, but the apt name she takes after her personal demons derail her first marriage) setting out on the arduous walkabout to find herself, purge and repent. When we meet her she’s angry at the mountain and nature, having just lost her hiking boots atop a summit, and we flash back to the start of the trek to see Strayed even more naive in the ways of navigating the wild. Continue reading
For What it's Worth 