Quickie Review - Wild

Wild is not the greatest movie ever made and it may not even be the greatest movie about self exploration, but it works on every level. It also cemented my opinion that Reese Witherspoon is a great actress. If you decide to see it, I implore you, do not read reviews or message boards, because anti-feminist America doesn't like, nor do they understand this movie. They can't handle a movie that is so complex, yet formed on the simple premise, that in life, we have only two directions in which we can go; we can go forward or we can go back. There is nothing else. Who we take with us, allow us to help or hinder us, is inconsequential, because in the end, we can make the decision that is difficult or we can return to what we know. It sounds as if I'm trying to dumb down the film, but if you see it, you'll understand.

Wild is not for everyone. There is no grand epiphany, fireworks or celebration of things coming into focus. There is no visual fight for survival and the dialogue is not necessarily the most riveting. It's simple, sometimes funny, sometimes sad and sometimes just dialogue. There is sex, drugs, music and food. All of these depicted in good ways and bad. There is fear and overcoming of said fear and you feel it throughout. It is about women, not just a woman, but at the same time, it is Cheryl Strayed's story and only hers. To judge her on how she got there, is to miss the entire point of the film.