Wild

WILD (2014)

directed by Jean-Marc Vallee

[director filmography: Dallas Buyers Club (2013), C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005)]

written by Nick Hornby

[screenwriter of An Education (2009); author of Fever Pitch (2005), About a Boy (2002), High Fidelity (2000)]

starring Reese Witherspoon [Oscar Winner for Best Actress in Walk the Line], Laura Dern [Fault in Our Stars (2014), Citizen Ruth (1996), Jurassic Park Trilogy]

ENJOYMENT: ***** (out of 5)

"Loved it"

Damn, it was hard to get me to see this movie. I wanted to see Top Five. If it wasn't for the lack of clear Best Actress contenders this year, and that Reese Witherspoon got a Golden Globe nomination for this role, I probably wouldn't have gone. For those of you who have read the book by the same name, it is probably pretty clear that I did not read it. It is probably also clear that I didn't see the trailer or know that it was from the same director as Dallas Buyers Club, because if I did I would not have hesitated to see this film. It is this illogical reluctance to see Wild that makes me wonder how many other near masterpieces I forgo seeing every year that may have affected me very deeply. What have I learned? I've definitely learned that my prejudice against Reese Witherspoon for making a bunch of superficial films in her past (and likely even in her future) needs to end right now--she is one of the best actresses around when she wants to be. I've also learned that Jean-Marc Vallee is a powerhouse filmmaker, Nick Hornby can now be trusted to write pretty much anything, Laura Dern is still alive and acting finer than ever, and that Wild is one of the top 10 movies of the year.

I mentioned that if I had seen the trailer I wouldn't have hesitated to see this film because the trailer shows that Wild is actually about a very troubled young woman [Witherspoon] who needs to hit the reset button in life. Troubled by drugs, by poverty and by tragedy, she is unsure what else to do with herself. I won't ruin any more about the film, or about her character in the film, except to say that her way of hitting reset is to spend her last dollar on buying the equipment she needs (and some that she doesn't) to hike the entire 1,100 mile Pacific Coast Trail--by herself. Along the way, we get to learn more about her past, about her mother [Laura Dern], and about all that brought her to this point. This is filmmaking of masterful caliber with remarkable acting, editing, music, cinematography and locations. I don't want to make a comparison to Into the Wild (2007), because it is different in a lot of important ways, but I was still energized in a similar way after seeing both. In the end, Wild proves to be one of the more heartfelt, raw, and philosophically rich films of the year. It is for anyone who has ever felt that they didn't have a fork in the road, that they didn't have a way out, and that their only option was to shake things up in the most extreme way. This is the true story about a woman who acts on these needs.

OSCAR PREDICTIONS: This film is phenomenal on so many levels, but I think it screams to be overlooked by the Academy for Best Picture or Best Director. It's a hunch that unfortunately rarely fails me. Reese Witherspoon will be nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Nick Hornby for Best Adapted Screenplay. If there is justice in the Academy, Laura Dern will also be nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (she was overlooked by the Golden Globes). It's too soon to tell whether Witherspoon will win, because all of the other big films with strong female leading performances haven't been released yet. Also, she already has won once and she doesn't scream 2-time Oscar Winner yet--but who knows, that could just be my prejudice still. (I think it will be Julianne Moore's year for Still Alice--though I haven't seen the film yet. Like I said before, it's just a hunch I get.)

Other ratings: IMDB (7.2/10) as of Dec 17, Rotten Tomatoes (92%)