Into the Wild (2007)

After graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandons his possessions, gives his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life.

Director:

Sean Penn

Writers:

Sean Penn (screenplay), Jon Krakauer (book)

Stars:

Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener

Top 250 #160 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 43 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emile Hirsch	...	Chris McCandless
Marcia Gay Harden	...	Billie McCandless
William Hurt	...	Walt McCandless
Jena Malone	...	Carine McCandless / Additional Narrator
Brian H. Dierker	...	Rainey (as Brian Dierker)
Catherine Keener	...	Jan Burres
Vince Vaughn	...	Wayne Westerberg
Kristen Stewart	...	Tracy Tatro
Hal Holbrook	...	Ron Franz
Jim Gallien	...	Himself
James O'Neill	...	Graduation Reader (as James J. O'Neill)
Malinda McCollum	...	Waitress
Paul Knauls	...	Building Manager
Zach Galifianakis	...	Kevin
Craig Mutsch	...	Wayne's Crew #1

Storyline

Based on a true story. After graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters who shape his life.

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Plot Keywords:

Wilderness | Alaska | Charity | Emory University | River Rapids | 

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Taglines:

Into the heart Into the soul

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [jp]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Danish

Release Date:

21 September 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hacia rutas salvajes

Filming Locations:

Anchorage, Alaska, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£196,994 (UK) (9 November 2007)

Gross:

$18,352,454 (USA) (21 March 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Vantage, Art Linson Productions, Into the Wild

Technical Specs

Runtime:

148 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the film, Christopher works at a Burger King. In the book, he is said to have worked at McDonald's.

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Goofs

When Chris is viewing the buildings of downtown L.A., a Union Bank of California building is shown. Union Bank of California was formed in 1996, while the film depicts events from 1992.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Christopher McCandless: Mom! Mom! Help me.

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Crazy Credits

The opening title is shown as part of Chris's journal's writings.

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Connections

Featured in 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2008)
Nominee clips.

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Soundtracks

"Timekeeper"
Written & Performed by Michael Brook
Courtesy of Canadian Rational LLC / bigHelium Entertainment LLC

User Reviews

Beautiful Film, Even Better Than The Book

For a movie to be even better than a good book is no small feat. Yet, that's how I felt after watching this film. It really impressed me. One of the reasons is the fantastic cinematography. Man, this is a beautifully filmed and, at 142 minutes, there are a lot of great scenes to admire.

Sean Penn directed and Eddie Gautier was the Director Of Photography. I can't stand Penn as a person but fair-is-fair and I think he's great as a director, having seen his work in "The Pledge" and "The Crossing Guard." The main actor, Emile Hirsch, who plays "Chris McCandless" (a.k.a. "Alexander Supertramp" reminded me of Leonardo DiCaprio with his looks, build and voice inflection. He is very credible as the young guy who wants nothing to do with materialistic society and dreams of living in the wilds of Alaska. The problem was that he was unprepared and underestimated what he was up against.

Two people who fascinated me the most in here were two extremes, age-wise - Hal Holbrook and Kristen Stewart. It was really great to see the veteran Holbrook ("Ron France") again. He was about 82 when he made this film and hadn't acted in a film in a few years. He was terrific, too. He had some of the most memorable scenes in the story. Meanwhile, teenager Stewart was captivating as "Tracy Tatro," who had a crush on "Alex." This young woman is on her way to stardom.

Brian Dierker and Catherine Keener also were really, really interesting as the aging hippie couple, "Rainey" and "Jan." I kept thinking, I know this guy when listening to Dierker's voice, finally guessing it was Jeff Bridges underneath all the beard....but it Dierker, a guy who rarely acts in films.

Knowing the book, the only part of the film that caught be off-guard was the young Swedish couple. I don't remember them in the book but I'll never forget this in this film!! One could debate the pros and cons of Chris McCandless for hours, so no sense going into that here. I thought the film was pretty kind to him. You read more in the book about how he hurt a lot of people with his silence. Either way, it's a a fascinating story and a beautiful film.