The Critics: ‘Into the Wild,’ the Movie

Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 09.21.07 | 11:13 AM ET

After a couple months of hype, including an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Sean Penn’s adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s book “Into the Wild” opens today in New York and Los Angeles. The big-screen telling of Christopher McCandless’s self-imposed exile from mainstream society and tragic journey into the Alaskan wilderness is Penn’s “warmest, most celebratory and most completely realized film and, though you might not guess it from the material, it is also arguably his most personal,” writes Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times.

Turan adds:

He focuses almost entirely on McCandless’ sweetness and idealism, emphasizing the largeness of his spirit in an attempt to mythologize him as an avatar of advanced consciousness.

Director of photography Eric Gautier, who also shot “The Motorcycle Diaries,” gets a nod from Turan for his “striking outdoor photography” of Alaska and the American Southwest.

New York Times film critic A.O. Scott also notes the beauty of the film in a positive review. He writes “though the film’s structure may be tragic, its spirit is anything but. It is infused with an expansive, almost giddy sense of possibility, and it communicates a pure, unaffected delight in open spaces, fresh air and bright sunshine.” It is, he says, “a movie about the desire for freedom that feels, in itself, like the fulfillment of that desire.”

Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman gives the film an A-, saying it has “a darkling purity that will haunt anyone willing to take the trip.”

Salon’s Stephanie Zacharek has more of a mixed take: “The story Penn has made from Krakauer’s book is sometimes absorbing and occasionally quite touching,” she writes. “And Penn is perceptive enough to see that the act of ‘finding oneself’ isn’t necessarily just a groovy, harmless quest; it can also be a profoundly manipulative act, a way of cutting deeply into the people who love you most. But it takes Penn too long to tease the really interesting (and somewhat dark) observations out of McCandless’ story.”

New York magazine’s David Edelstein also offers a mixed review, but his praise is telling. “After all the nits are picked, Into the Wild has a crazy integrity—Penn believes.”

Based on the reviews, I’m upgrading my expectations for a second time. I plan to see the movie next week when I’m in Los Angeles.