This Movie Stinks

So I watched "Into The Wild" over the weekend, fully expecting to join the chorus of gushing movie buffs, bowled over by Sean Penn's adaptation of the popular John Krakauer book. But not so.

This movie stinks. Sure, it has beautiful panoramas of the Alaskan wild, and a nice soundtrack from Eddie Vedder. But I've attended insurance seminars that were more interesting than "Into The Wild."

First off, it's the true story of Chris McCandless, an arrogant, unsympathetic, spoiled rich kid who hates his parents (because daddy was a philanderer), so the kid decides to drop out of society. He goes missing for two years... while he explores the American west, and even works as a wheat thresher, trying to raise money for his much-ballyhoo'd "Alaskan Adventure."

When he finally gets to Alaska, he stares adoringly at the massive mountains in the distance... as if he'll soon conquer one them. He has grandiose plans, that's for sure! But instead, he spends 100 days huddled in and around an old, rusted out bus, writing and feeling sorry for himself. Adventure? Hah! He barely ventures more than a mile from his home base! He seems apprehensive to embark on this big adventure at all. And while I generally like the star, Emile Hirsch, I think his turn in "The Girl Next Door" had more depth. In this dud of a film, he had the "range" of a Daisy air rifle.

In the end... McCandless' food supply dries up... he eats some poisonous berries... craps himself... and dies of starvation.

It was a foolish journey for an ill-prepared "adventurer," and the film left this viewer feeling more empty than Chris McCandless' stomach.