Wild (2014)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Cheryl Strayed	Reese Witherspoon
Barbara "Bobbi" Grey	Laura Dern	½
Paul	Thomas Sadoski
Jonathan	Michiel Huisman
Frank	W. Earl Brown
Aimee	Gaby Hoffmann
Greg	Kevin Rankin

Review

Well-meaning and introspective by nature, this story about a young woman trying to get her volatile life back on track by walking the Pacific Crest Trail is adapted by Nick Hornby and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée (of last year's Dallas Buyers Club) with some of the same compassion and performance-driven drive which marked that film. Wild conveys well how physical endeavours and solace can get you back in touch with reality and yourself, but its anecdotal narrative style and numerous repeated flashbacks ultimately do not carry enough weight to make the story as profound and significant as the film trumpets. The talented Reese Witherspoon carries the weight as well as she can, but the film is as overloaded with suggested sentiment as her backpack is with stuff, and Vallée isn't equally willing to shed or repack as his protagonist is. The film lacks a climax, and the payoff is slight – unless you count when El Condor Pasa finally gets past its intro during the end credits.