After the death of her mother and the breaking up of her marriage, Cheryl Strayed decides to go on a 1000 mile trek on the Pacific Crest Trail to overcome her grief and to introspect into her life. The fact that she starts this trek without any prior experience of handling such a long hard journey, presents her multiple challenges along the way.
Language:
English
Running Time:
115 min
Rating:
R
Release date:
19 December 2014
Directed by:
Jean-Marc Vallée
Produced by:
Bruna Papandrea
Bill Pohlad
Reese Witherspoon
Written by:
Nick Hornby
Based on:
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
by Cheryl Strayed
Starring:
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Dern
Thomas Sadoski
Michiel Huisman
Gaby Hoffmann
Kevin Rankin
Music by:
Susan Jacobs
Shot by:
Yves Bélanger
Edited by:
John Mac McMurphy
Martin Pensa
Distributed by:
Fox Searchlight Pictures

What’s Hot

  • Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl Strayed carries the movie literally & figuratively on her shoulders. She makes the journey of the protagonist believable even though it is not completely relatable. Her relationship with her mother Bobbi – played well by the talented Laura Dern – and her promiscuous behavior after her mother’s death and her heroin addiction don’t portray her as the typical female lead, but as a real person. Reese Witherspoon does her best to make the connection with the character – and it is this performance which keeps the audience engaged throughout.
  • As is the case with any road or a travel movie – it is the main character’s spirit, enduring the travails to get the answers for all their questions – that makes it watchable. Same is the case with this movie. This movie is based on the 2012 best seller Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail – and this interesting material has been adapted for the big screen by Nick Hornby in a interesting way.
  • The supporting characters – though they make interesting encounters through out Cheryl’s travel – it is only the character of Bobbi that stays in the mind of the audience. Laura Dern does a neat job in portraying a mother striving to make her kids more sophisticated than she is.
  • While the other departments don’t stand out individually they complement the travel of Cheryl in a subdued fashion.

What’s Not

  • The movie is a feel good travel movie at last- with almost all the pitfalls of a typical feel good movie. It gets pretentious at times to drive the point. Also, there looks to be too much time devoted to the back story of bad relationships, habits & choices while lesser screen time is given to the main story of the trek.
  • The multiple long bound shots to show the realism of the travails of the Pacific Crest Trail does bore you from time to time.
  • Although, Reese has excelled in her given role, it is tough to imagine her in the role with her general image. Although it is highly unfair to compare, one feels she has not submitted herself to the role as much as Matthew McConaughey in the director’s last year winner, The Dallas Buyers Club.

Badges

Verdict

Verdict Stamp

Though the 1000 mile trek of Cheryl Strayed is a tremendous feat, the big screen adaptation of her journey engages you only to a certain extent - thanks largely to the performances of Reese Witherspoon & Laura Dern.