WILD
DIRECTOR: Jean-Marc Vallee
CAST: Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Thomas Sadoski, Michiel Huisman, Gaby Hoffamn and Kevin Rankin
CLASSIFICATION: 16 LDSN
RUNNING TIME: 116 minutes
RATING: ***
Hers is a career defined by a seesaw of syrupy on-screen personalities who elicit images of pink candy floss, and compelling portrayals of deeply conflicted characters that explore the human condition.
Somewhere between Elle Woods (Legally Blonde) and June Carter Cash (Walk the Line), lies Cheryl Strayed.
An Academy Award winner and the recipient of many other industry accolades, Reese Witherspoon has certainly proved that, beyond the stereotypical Southern gal looks and a number of bad script choices notwithstanding, she can actually act.
Thus, that she should have chosen to tackle the unglamorous factual story of Strayed – a coincidentally apt name, considering the premise – seems fitting. (Even if the repeated flashing of flesh from the usually conservative star is somewhat jarring for her regular fan base.)
In this tale of a good girl gone Wild, Witherspoon convincingly captures the spirit of the essayist-turned-bestselling-novelist, on whose real life experiences the movie is based.
To suggest that hers is a performance worthy of an Oscar, however (Witherspoon was nominated in the Best Actress category, but lost out to Julianne Moore), is somewhat of a stretch. A tight one.
But then, that the story itself isn’t quite the Pulitzer Prize-winning material American audiences have made it out to be, leaves her with a rather linear plot to work with.
Said account, in its simplest form, entails: girl from wrong side of the tracks shows strong signs of pulling herself out of the grip of poverty, thanks to a loving and ever-encouraging mother (Dern is poignant in her portrayal as the single-parent matriarch always looking for the silver lining, despite her dire circumstances).
Mother dies unexpectedly.
As a result, girl – or more appropriately, woman – descends into a downward spiral of self-destruction, involving heroine addiction, promiscuity and a general devil-may-care outlook that effectively unravels the threads of her life.
Haunted by the memory of her mother and realising that she’s on the fast track to death’s door, woman concocts the irrational notion of atoning for her sins by “walking her way back” to the person her mom had raised her to be. Literally.
Thus begins Strayed’s 1 000 mile (1 600km) journey to redemption, as she sets out to hike the Pacific Crest Trail on her own.
Forgive me if I don’t break out in applause, with the requisite tears streaming down my face. Perhaps my cynicism is borne of the fact that we live in a country where children are often left without a mother or father – or, indeed, both! – due to HIV/Aids, or other tragic turn of events.
And unlike Strayed, who was already a 22-year-old, self-sufficient college student at the time of her mother’s demise, these children are exactly that: babies, toddlers and adolescents who are forced into sheer survival mode, which leaves them little time for self-pity. Much less when, again unlike Strayed who did have a support structure in the form of her husband, brother and best friend, they have only themselves to rely on.
Which is what makes Strayed’s woe-is-me autobiographical yarn come off as rather self-indulgent. And difficult to empathise with, as a result. Particularly when one considers it was her own choices, and not those inflicted upon her by society a la, say, (serial killer) Aileen Wuornos that drove her to the edge.
Director Vallee packed a far meatier punch in his previous factual offering, Dallas Buyers’ Club.
Conversely, this project is good, but not great; it’s interesting, but not mesmerising. And contrary to its title, Wild is rather tame by comparison.
If you liked Girl, Interrupted, Wild will resonate with you.