Into the Wild

Name: Into the Wild
Genre: Adventure, Biography, Drama
Released: September 21, 2007
Duration: 148 min
Rating: 73
Cast: Catherine Keener, Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn

2007

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 487 Ratings

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8.0	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 487 Ratings

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Into The Wild

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Movie Details & Credits

Paramount Vantage | Release Date: September 21, 2007 | R

Starring: Catherine Keener, Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn

Summary: Freshly graduated from college and with a promising future ahead, 22-year-old Christopher McCandless chose instead to walk out of his privileged life and into the wild in search of adventure. What happened to him on the way transformed this young wanderer into an enduring symbol for countless people. Was Christopher McCandless a heroicFreshly graduated from college and with a promising future ahead, 22-year-old Christopher McCandless chose instead to walk out of his privileged life and into the wild in search of adventure. What happened to him on the way transformed this young wanderer into an enduring symbol for countless people. Was Christopher McCandless a heroic adventurer or a naïve idealist, a rebellious 1990s Thoreau or another lost American son, a fearless risk-taker or a tragic figure who wrestled with the precarious balance between man and nature? (Paramount Vantage)… Expand

Director: Sean Penn

Genre(s): Adventure, Biography, Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 148 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Roger Ebert

Spellbinding. Read full review

Scott Tobias

There's a bittersweet quality to McCandless' story that Penn captures intuitively. Read full review

James Berardinelli

Into the Wild is a beautifully made motion picture and some of the segments (especially those with Hal Holbrook and those that transpire around "the magic bus" in Alaska) are powerful. Read full review

Michael Phillips

It’s half-crock and half-sublime, which seems about right for its subject. Read full review

Peter Rainer

Penn has a real feeling for the stray moments in life that suddenly rush up and overwhelm us with emotion. He also has an eye for beauty in the wilds, of which this film has many. And he's very good with actors. What he lacks is a sharper eye for the wooziness of romanticism, and that wooziness, despite some truly breathtaking moments, infuses Into the Wild. Read full review

Jack Mathews

Penn is projecting heroic qualities onto a young guy who simply got in over his head. Read full review

David Denby

Sean Penn’s Into the Wild is certainly visual--it’s entirely too visual, to the point of being cheaply lyrical. Read full review

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User Reviews

frryl.

Feb 14, 2008

This movie is a story of how most people want to live there there lives, yet vary few have the courage.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

erick_vtk

Sep 5, 2012

Everyone should watching this film. Have a rich acting, direction, photography and a poetic tom, make you think about the little things, the simple life. Although he died, he said a phrase that make all sense: "happiness is full when is shared".

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

bone

Nov 18, 2010

The film repects the true story as expressed in Jon Krakauer's book. I can't overstate how good Emile Hirsch is as the lead. Every supporting actor plays their part to near perfection. Sean Penn is as good a director as he is an actor. The music goes really well with the film.

4 of 6 users found this helpful42

Adev

Apr 1, 2008

outstanding film which takes away day to day hassles in the modern world and shows it that money means nothing its the experiences that last with you forever its quite sad at times, and its a very well made film and jumps from highs to lows throughout. Enjoyed every minuite of this outstanding film which takes away day to day hassles in the modern world and shows it that money means nothing its the experiences that last with you forever its quite sad at times, and its a very well made film and jumps from highs to lows throughout. Enjoyed every minuite of this relatively long film.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

ThatemW

Mar 24, 2008

Great movie. Really followed the book well. Also some great shots of Alaska. Highly recomend this to anyone. Little slow, but leaves a lot to the imagination.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

DougN.

Oct 23, 2007

The film is not "spellbinding" as the Chicago Sun-Times claims. But it is interesting, especially as it's based on a true life case. It reminded me of "Grizzly Man", by Werner Herzog except this one is more happy. I have to say, I think Sean Penn is really growing as a director - great job.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

JoshuaW.g

Sep 26, 2007

This movie is very simple. It's a 2 hour and 20 minute glorification and romanticization of a guy who wasn't playing with a full deck, mentally speaking, who (perhaps somewhat inadvertently) committed suicide in the wild. He died ONLY because he didn't bother to take basic This movie is very simple. It's a 2 hour and 20 minute glorification and romanticization of a guy who wasn't playing with a full deck, mentally speaking, who (perhaps somewhat inadvertently) committed suicide in the wild. He died ONLY because he didn't bother to take basic provisions like a map. Sean Penn admitted on Charlie Rose that if he simply had a map, he easily could have walked out of the area where he died instead of dying. But he was too crazy to take a map or basic survival provisions, or learn basic survival training, and thus wasted his life for no reason. His death was completely senseless, stupid and unnecessary. He was not a hero. He was not an inspiration. Therefore this movie has no reason to exist, because glorifying and romanticizing a guy who committed suicide is bad for society and mankind as a species. If you really are desperate to see a glorification of suicide then it's much cheaper to watch the old clip of Dr. Jack Kevorkian from the news show "60 Minutes" instead of buying a ticket to "Into the Wild".… Expand

0 of 3 users found this helpful

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80	#80 Best Movie of 2007
29	#29 Most Discussed Movie of 2007
14	#14 Most Shared Movie of 2007