Wild

If it wasn’t for Reese Witherspoon, Wild could be a great way to help you cure insomnia, but her performance and a strong second half of the film makes for a memorable combination.

Based on the true story, Witherspoon stars as Cheryl – a woman trying to get her life together. She has planned an arduous, 1100 mile, solo hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, which will take her through the wilderness, deserts and maybe some snow. However, the true peril she faces on this hike is her own memory and emotional state as she reflects back on the life that has gone haywire and tries to use this journey to cleanse her soul.

For the first hour of Wild, I was wondering why I was watching the movie.

For the second half of Wild, I was glad I didn’t give up.

It turns out director Jean-Marc Vallee was luring us in. As Cheryl goes on this hike, we see the young woman flashing back to scenes from her life, which helps us understand the struggle she has faced with a beloved mother (Laura Dern), the hiker’s failing marriage to a man (Thomas Sadoski) who adores her, and her battle with depression, loss and addiction. All of the big drama stuff is here in that way that makes you think someone is angling for an Oscar.

Witherspoon and Vallee do a wonderful job showing us the isolation and danger Cheryl faces as she embarks on this 1100 mile journey, but hold much of the action for the second hour.

In the first hour, we get a sense of Cheryl’s relationship with her mother and some idea of the young woman’s life prior to a complete upheaval, but I often found myself wondering why I should care. It’s almost as if they are saving all of the good stuff for the second hour, which isn’t always a bad thing, but the audience could use a bit more enticement and excitement in the first hour to give us a reason to stick around. We never get a true feeling of the danger she faces alone on the trail or the obstacles she has encountered in her personal life until later in the film. It is all promised for the second half.

Then, the second hour is fantastic. Because Wild is more of a character study, we watch Witherspoon go to deep, shocking places you haven’t seen her before as Cheryl’s life spiral is on full display with Witherspoon showing us the despair, anger and self-destructive behavior that led to this point, mostly, because of one horrible catastrophe in her life. Witherspoon makes Cheryl into three characters – the loving daughter with hope, the raging addict and the hiker who is trying to find peace of mind – and she gives us each one vividly and without unwelcome histrionics. It is an understated performance that is quite fantastic as you take a closer look at it.

Vallee and the crew do a great job capturing the wilderness and the trail, but those who are looking for a plot heavy movie, or harbor some insane, unjustified hatred of Witherspoon, need to go elsewhere.

Wild is rated R for sexual content, nudity, drug use, and language.