Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet? Are we Image via Yahoo

There is a very specific type of story, which entails somebody trading civilization for some time in the woods, that has become something of its own sub-genre. And with that comes the burden of tropes and cliches. There is the flashback structure, the stubbornness, and the regret. I’m referring specifically to Into the Wild and 127 Hours. Wild also finds itself in this category, but it deviates when it comes to its main character, who seems at least a bit more willing to bend to the way of nature.

Like the aforementioned films, Wild is based on a true story. In 1994, Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon) left Minneapolis to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. It is a bit of an odd trail that never goes right along the coast but rather through scorching deserts and rigorous mountain passes. It is beautiful, yet unforgiving. By the way, I have not hiked this trail at all. The closest I have gotten to it was a hummer ride through Joshua Tree National Park. Wild just happens to portray it so well that you feel like you are there. Another good name for this film could be America You’re Beautiful, But You’re Bringing Me Down.

Witherspoon’s gives a warts-and-all performance; the film does open with Cheryl ripping her toe nail right off her big toe. I don’t think it’s fair necessarily to call Witherspoon’s performance “brave” as many have because at the end of each shoot day, she probably had a nice hotel room to sleep in. Yet, you can read about her extreme commitment to the role and see for yourself that her passion for this woman’s story paid off. The deep pain and soul searching feel so real that at times, that it doesn’t even feel like she is acting at all.

Unlike other characters (slash real life humans) who venture out into the wild, from Chris McCandless to Aaron Ralston, Cheryl isn’t giving the finger to the man. Instead, she is both escaping and confronting deep emotional pain following the death of her mother (Laura Dern). Cheryl’s journey is more a search for meaning than an all out rebellion. It’s equal parts Siddhartha and Easy Rider. It’s a spiritual film of sorts, the kind where flashbacks and hallucinations seamlessly blend together.

Wild was directed by Jean Marc-Vallee, who had a breakout hit with Dallas Buyers Club last year. Vallee has an amazing ability to get the best possible performances out of his actors. He gets them to reach bottom, and then strip away all their flaws in the most personal and revealing way possible. Luckily, he has gotten rid of that irritating shaky cam but unfortunately, he has not lost his love of blatant visual metaphors. After enough people tell her how heavy her bag is, you just want to scream, “we get it, she’s carrying a lot of baggage around with her!” Call the neurologist, because he really hit us over the head with that one. Heyo!

The one other issue I had with Wild was actually with the flashback structure. The film doesn’t have the confidence to just transition without Cheryl looking at a random item, squinting, and then remembering what pain it causes her. It’s essentially the Pear Effect from Saving Mr. Banks. Road trip films are loose in nature, so attempting to be this stringent just seems self-defeating.

Having said that, Wild is a film worth seeing. It puts a nice little twist on a somewhat tired concept and it also happens to be carried on the shoulders of one of the best performances of the year. It’s the kind of film that might make you approach things just a little differently. I don’t think I’m going to go on a backpacking trip through California anytime soon, but I will definitely step outside and see if I can befriend a fox.

Brain Farts From The Edge

• I like the dramatic reliefs in the story. There are many moments when it seems like something really terrible will happen but to our relief, it does not. Cheryl might not have brought the right type of stove, but at least she is always looking over her shoulder.
• REI. Snapple. Lays. More Snapple. Oh, the product placement!
• I really want to rewatch Into the Wild right about now.
• I know there is the whole arguments that you can watch most indies on your laptop and it doesn’t make a difference. However, the stunning vistas of California and Oregon make this worth seeing on the big screen.
• Taxidermy is always associated with creeps. I just associate it with this guy.
• Wild has one of my favorite soundtracks of the year. Leonard Cohen? Simon & Garfunkel? Hippies from Oregon covering the Grateful Dead? Sold.
• Speaking of the Dead, another great name for Wild would have been Wild: What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been. Also…127.5 Hours.
• Seeing Reese Witherspoon walk through the halls of a high school and I’m getting Tracy Flick flashbacks.
• Only implausible part: A man who writes for a publication about homeless people earns enough money off of it to pay for rent and gas. The 90s were a strange time, man.
• Hollywood’s overall lesson based on Into the Wild, Wild, and 127 Hours: The path to enlightenment lies in strangers who will give you potato chips and whiskey along the way.

Image via The Examiner

Being defined as “Young Adult” is both a blessing and a curse—A blessing because any Young Adult titles are crowd surfed to the New York Times Best Sellers List and then to the top spot at the box office. It is a curse because Young Adult properties are also met with much derision, the most juvenile of which can be like that sound you can only hear if you’re over 40, except for fifteen year old girls.

That is why it is a shame that The Fault in Our Stars, the new film based on the hugely successful novel by John Green, has only been labeled as Young Adult. While it is a teen romance, it is a teen romance for people of all ages. Especially your grandparents, who probably keep calling this The Faults in His Stars or Starry Night.

I came to The Fault in Our Stars as a late fan: I read the book for the first time ever last week, yet I knocked it out in just a few short days because it was just that difficult to put down. Every word John Green writes oozes with all of the fast-paced wit that will easily carry you from one page to the next. It gave somebody who is a pretty terrible reader (me…did you figure that out yet?) a reason to want to keep reading. I decided to read this book out of both fascination and preparation and found myself enveloped in this world for a whole week through several different forms of media.

For those of you who are not familiar with the source material, the film maintains the book’s basic plot. The Fault in Our Stars tells the story of Hazel (Shailene Woodley), a teenaged cancer survivor who lives life to the fullest by laying on her couch and watching America’s Next Top Model. Her parents want her to socialize with others, so they send her to a cancer support group. It is here that she meets Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort), who has the name of a rejected Jane Austen character, and the ability to sweep her off of her feet and into the real world. Woodley and Elgort are just two small parts in a fantstic cast that constantly fires on all cylinders. Woodley plays Hazel as mopey but never too cynical. Meanwhile, Elgort plays Augustus as somebody who is both sensitive and too cool for school. All Augustus needs is an unlit cigarette dangling out of his mouth in order to look way cooler than you ever did in high school.

The book of Fault has a loose narrative feel to it, as it often feels like it is drifting from place-to-place. The film lends a tighter screenplay structure. Often, that is actually okay, as it forces the writers to trim a lot of the fat. Hazel’s narration is long and often borders on stream of consciousness. Bravo to director Josh Boone, who managed to translate as much of that as humanly possible into a visual form. From Amsterdam to a park in Indianapolis, The Fault in Our Stars sure is nice to look at.

Unfortunately, in the process from stage to screen, some of the best parts of the novel get lost. Hazel doesn’t necessarily seem as wise as she once did without her thoughts on An Imperial Affliction. Plus, the loss of some poignant scenes from the book give some of the background players less of a chance to shine. Luckily, this film has such a great ensemble, with everyone from Mike Birbiglia to Laura Dern acting at the top of their game. Birbiglia brings a much needed comic relief to his support group leader, while Dern brings a degree of honesty and humility to her performance as Hazel’s mother.

You can call this a teen movie all you want, because it is. However, The Fault in Our Stars happens to be the good kind of teen movie, as it is the kind that can relate to people of all ages. While it does lose some of my favorite parts of the book, it most importantly keeps the tone intact. Like the book, the movie of The Fault in Our Stars is an earnest and funny look at a subject that people often can’t muster up the words to talk about. First timers to the story will feel the same way that everybody did when they first read the book. Meanwhile, everyone who read the book will feel like they are experiencing this story for the first time. Sure, you might have imagined Augustus’ hair being a little longer, or Peter Van Houten (Willem Dafoe) being a little fatter, but sometimes in order to enjoy a good adaptation, you have to kill the darlings that your imagination has created.

Brain Farts From The Edge (SPOILERS)

• I would love to do a separate post just on how an audience can bend your perception of a film. For instance, this audience was filled with teenagers who all broke down in unison exactly when they were supposed to. They were a studio’s ideal test audience.
• Props to Willem Dafoe for playing such a nasty character in a story about teenagers coping with cancer. I know that he’s a pretty terrible person, but I couldn’t help but feel just a little bit bad when Hazel dumped him on the side of the road after Gus’ funeral.
• In my Chef review, I talked about the way that new movies use new media. Fault does it in the least irritating way imaginable. Sure, a simple zoom in at a text or email would have been fine. However, the text graphics actually serve the film well, and they added a nice touch of whimsy as well. (Note to self: never say “nice touch of whimsy” ever again)
• I suddenly want to go to Amsterdam, and not for the reasons that everybody normally goes there. Hey, it looks like a nice city.
• Mike Birbiglia wrote the song that he performs at the beginning of the film. The song reminds me of one of his classic bits.