Written and directed by Sean Penn, comes the story of Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) a top graduate and athlete of Emory University, who donates his Harvard Law Grad School money to charity and takes for the high road – the wilderness. On the way he meets a cast of characters who help him discover the meaning of life from Vince Vaughn as a farmer, to Catherine Keener as a hippy chick, to Hal Holbrook as an old-timer who just wants to adopt him. Part “Grizzly Man” part “Brokeback Mountain” for the wilderness factors, this story has some dramatic and often over-the-top elements. Take Chris’s intense need to punish his parents (Marcia Gay Harden and William Hurt) who never know if he’s alive or dead, and his anger toward money and the politics of life. Based on the John Krakeur book this is a breathtaking movie to watch, but sadly with a real life ending that never quite adds up. Two and a half tiaras
