Into the Wild

Into the Wild is the best movie I have seen all year. It is an idealistic, collage of a movie that is a masterpiece. Writer/Director Sean Penn stays faithful to Jon Krakauer's book and creates a deceivingly complex film.

Emile Hirsch delivers the kind of performance that changes your perspective on an actor. I had never seen a film of his that I enjoyed, and never really enjoyed him in any of the movies. Here he is so good that it moves beyond acting. His final moments in the film are so haunting and powerful that they keep me glued to my seat well into the closing credits.

The film is filled with stunning vistas and gorgeous details. Penn also uses time lapse photography in an interesting way. Not only is it used to tell the passage of time but also to show the inner thinkings of Hirsch's Christopher McCandless. Other editing tricks are used such as split screen and freeze frames but they never seem overdone, it just feels like the correct tapestry for this kind story.

I remember somebody once asking what films perfectly embodies America. Something to show someone who has never visited this country or knows very little about it. At the time I was having a hard time trying to come up with an answer but now I can't think of a better example than this film.