Into the Wild
Sean Penn has been one of those actors that were able to balance mainstream and independent cinema, an act not followed by most Hollywood stars (but then how many of those stars were able to survive a marriage to Madonna). In Into the Wild, Sean finds the perfect storyline to unfold his directing charisma and produce a strong emotional movie around a young activist’s (Chris McCandless) true story. The main character (played by Emile Hirsch) is a young college graduate that is repelled by society’s morals and ethics and decides to live under his own rules by tramping around America. The movie follows the trails of his journey from Nevada to Mexico, California to Oregon and from South Dakota all the way to Alaska. In between, Chris will meet and affect the lives of a number of characters he meets on the road and in the process discover the truth regarding his own journey’s motives. Sean’s directing style is a real joy, with beautiful narration, perfectly matched photography and a surprisingly pleasant soundtrack from Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder. Emile’s acting (definitely inspired by Sean’s acting and directing style) is quite moving and very natural (avoiding over-dramatizing) and also Catherine Keener’s small part is worth seeing. All in all, the movie was one of the best I’ve seen from this mediocre year (2007) and will definitely be looking forward to Sean’s next directing attempt.Needless to say we are also eager to see Penn star in the latest Gas Van Sant’s movie Milk later this year..
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