I went into Wild with pretty low expectations, mainly because my wife did not care for the book. We mainly went to see Reese’s performance, both being big Reese Witherspoon fans. But the film exceeded expectations in almost every way, and Mrs. Irreviews felt the movie was in fact a distinct improvement on the book. It’s quite a well-made movie, very fun to watch, and in this year of horrible cinema, it’s a relief to find a film I can actually recommend whole-heartedly.

The formula that makes Wild so good is this: it has strong pacing, good narrative rhythm, strong incidental casting and acting, and the flashbacks (always a risky element in film) are remarkably efficient. The film could have easily lingered too long on many different elements – the details of her unpreparedness on the trail, the details of her failed marriage, the details of her post-marriage debauchery, the details of her mother’s death. But Wild gets all the elements balanced just about right, allowing Cheryl Strayed’s journey (both physical and personal) to take center stage, and allowing Reese Witherspoon’s excellent, understated performance to silently fill in whatever emotional shortfall the film’s approach might have produced (it’s a wonderful performance, taking a heroine who could have easily been a tad insufferable and making her both realistic and likable.) The film also manages to convey well the Pacific Crest Trail itself, and why someone would want to undergo all the hardships necessary to hike it.

The film has, dare I say, I bit of the magic of the 90’s Indie Renaissance about it, not in every way, but in many of the important ways. It’s a film that clearly grasps fundamental elements of great film; the only thing holding it back from being legitimately great is the story itself, which is perfectly fine, but perhaps a bit narrow and limited in scope to support a truly great movie.

I think it’s a travesty that wretched, horrible films like Birdman, Whiplash, and The Imitation Game got nominated for Oscars over Wild, which outclasses all these films in every conceivable area. Ignore the critics and their snarky half-praise for this film. It is well worth seeing and I highly recommend it!