Film Review: “Wild”

Jean-Marc Vallee directs the biographical film written by Nick Hornby, Wild. This film is based on the memoir, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, written by Cheryl Strayed. Vallee’s Dallas Buyers Club last year elicited two Oscar-winning performances, setting a high standard for Reese Witherspoon in the lead role and Laura Dern as supporting. However, with the help of Vallee’s cunning direction, the actors give award-worthy performances and the story ascends one of self-awareness and acceptance of the things we cannot change. It highlights the struggles of finding our identity in the shadow of tragedy. But most of all, it highlights the talent of Witherspoon and Vallee.

Wild follows Cheryl Strayed (Witherspoon) as she travels the Pacific Crest Trail searching for a meaning to her tangled life. Divorce from Cheryl’s abusive father leaves her mother (Dern) struggling to regain the years she has lost. She is working to get her GED and put their life back together as she is struck with the news of terminal cancer. This leaves Cheryl to step into her mother’s role and abandon the success to which she is striving. After the death of her mother and the responsibilities become too much, Cheryl’s life plunges into chaos. She descends into a life of drug use and, despite her marriage, promiscuity. As Cheryl lets go of the cares of life, her relationships begin to deteriorate, particularly with her husband. Although it is clear that they care for each other, Cheryl’s emotional absence leads them to divorce. This is the turning point at which she decides to change something. She decides to trek the thousand miles across all types of terrain through the PCT. She encounters others with similar journeys and comes face to face with some of her own demons.

Wild is packed with powerful metaphors. Cheryl literally carries around her baggage on her back, in the form of an enormous backpack filled with hiking supplies. As she begins her journey, her pack is completely full. She struggles to even get it off the ground. Her baggage is so overwhelming she has to lie down to even attempt to pick it up. She walks, with the highway at her side at first. With surrender so close, Cheryl pushes on carrying her pack. When she approaches her first check point on the trail, she receives a warm welcome. Some of the more experienced hikers help her unload her bag and pick out the things she can leave behind, thus ridding her of some of the weight and making it easier to withstand. Along with her pack and fellow hikers, the animals she encounters on her journey also play an important role, all representing certain struggles and challenging Cheryl to overcome them. Like a fox that she meets several times taunting her along her journey.

The stand-out achievement of Wild is the career-defining performances given by Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern. Their talent, combined with Vallee’s, allow this film to reach its full potential. Witherspoon delivers her most powerful performance, capturing the plights of Cheryl with ferocity, compassion, and grit. The unabashed honesty, with which the story is told, elevates Wild into Oscar contention. Although a film about a woman walking through the desert may seem dull, Witherspoon has no problem holding the attention of her audience. The sweeping landscapes and flashbacks add to help the story flow. Instead of a linear story about how Cheryl wound up at the PCT, we start with her already in the thick of it and go back to find out more. The star of the flashbacks is definitely Dern. She delivers an impactful and dignified performance. Wild is introspective and engaging, giving Witherspoon and Vallee space to flex their impressive talents.