A Movie Review: Wild

Wild.  Cheryl (Reese Witherspoon) is dropped off at a cheap hotel in some random small town in California.  You get the impression she hitched a ride there.  She stays the night and in the morning she starts to put together a massive backpack.  You get the impression she doesn't really know what

she is doing.  You don't even need to be a serious hiker -- my longest hike was waking up early in the morning and arriving back late at night so I've never done any hiking that required a serious backpack -- to laugh when you notice all the books she is carrying with her.  Weight?!?  She hitches another ride from an older married couple who drop her off at the start of the Pacific Crest Trail, close to the Mexican border.  Her goal is to hike 1,100 miles from the border of Mexico to the border of Canada, following the Pacific Crest trail.  If seeing her put together her backpack isn't enough of a clue, even more evidence of her lack of planning is provided during her first evening: it takes her forever to put up her tent and she learns that she brought the wrong fuel for her camping stove.

Why is she doing this?  After her mother died at a very young age, Cheryl went into a downward spiral.  She became a drug addict and started to sleep around with random men.  Her husband just couldn't deal with this (who can blame him) and they get a divorce.  For some reason, she is drawn to the idea of being out in nature.  Perhaps it is the thought of pushing her physical body, hoping that this will give her the will power to struggle with her personal demons.  It is not just a physical struggle she desires.  The long hike also provides her with the time to reflect on her life.

This movie has a quiet beauty to it that is often offset by periods of emotional turmoil that is Cheryl's life.  Would I recommend seeing this movie?  I have to say no.  You won't hate yourself for seeing it, but I don't think you'll leave the theater feeling that you gained new insight into life -- which I think this movie is meant to provide.  In many ways, I wanted to love this movie.  I love Reese Witherspoon.  I enjoy the idea of some struggling with their personal demons.  It just didn't hit me that anything profound was really changing in Cheryl's life during her journey.  In many ways, it seemed to me that she had already conquered her demons when she arrived at that cheap hotel and insisted to the hotel manager that there would be no random male guests showing up.  She was already clean, sober, and looking for something other than a hook-up with a total stranger.