REVIEW: INTO THE WILD

DIRECTED BY? Sean Penn (The Pledge)

WHO'S IN IT? Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer), Jena Malone (Saved!), Marcia Gay Harden (The Mist), Vince Vaughn (Dodgeball), William Hurt (Lost In Space), Catherine Keener (Hamlet 2), Hal Holbrook (The Bachelor), Kristen Stewart (Sparkly Vampire Movie)

WHAT'S IT ABOUT IN TWO SENTENCES?

A rich kid with daddy issues decides to leave civilisation behind and live with nature. He soon finds however, that nature is a cruel bitch.

ANYTHING OSCAR WORTHY?

The performances of the star studded cast are uniformly fantastic, even Kristen Stewart seems more awake than usual (she must of laid off the drugs for a couple of weeks). The standout performance however has to be Emile Hirsch who really gives everything he has to the role, losing Christian Bale-sian amounts of weight for it. Emile was truly robbed of an Oscar nomination. Hal Holbrook was nominated however and did deserve it for his small role. The cinematography and directing by Sean Penn are also top notch. One thing I was worried about was the films potential to become a preachy anti-consumerist rant, but I think the film successfully stepped around that and the end moral is something most will agree on.

ANYTHING RAZZIE WORTHY?

The film is maybe 15 minutes too long and could of easily have been trimmed down to a more efficient length. There is also one bizarre shot where Emile Hirsch breaks the forth wall and looks right at the camera which was completely out of place and felt decidedly amateurish.

HOW MANY STARS THEN?

Great direction, fantastic performances and a genuinely interesting true story. Definitely worth a watch

4 stars out of 5