Into the Wild Reviews

Into the Wild is a dramatic film based on the true story of Christopher McCandless -- a college graduate who abandoned his life to hike in the Alaskan wilderness.

Into the Wild received favorable reviews from critics. The film scored a 83% on Rotten Tomatoes and an overall rating of 73 on Metacritic.

The box office gross in the U.S. was $18,354,356 and $32,235,767 abroad for a total of $50,590,123 worldwide.

Into the Wild was nominated for two Oscars: Best Supporting Actor for Hal Holbrook and Best Film Editing.

• EW.com: Into the Wild Review (A-)
  • It's an intensely physical movie, yet it's never just physical. Every image (rivers, highways, icy mountains) tells its own story — of a terrain that must be met, and then conquered. The people Christopher meets, and touches, along the way are as much a part of the trip as his crash course in wilderness survival.

• RogerEbert.com: Into the Wild Review
  • This is a reflective, regretful, serious film about a young man swept away by his uncompromising choices. Two of the more truthful statements in recent culture are that we need a little help from our friends, and that sometimes we must depend on the kindness of strangers.

• USA Today: Into the Wild Review
  • Anyone who has read Jon Krakauer's fascinating non-fiction best seller upon which the film is based is bound to be satisfied by this cinematic retelling, despite its considerable length.

• Rolling Stone: Into the Wild Review
  • Penn, in tandem with the superb cinematographer Eric Gautier (The Motorcycle Diaries), captures the majesty and terror of the wilderness in ways that make you catch your breath.

• Film Threat: Into the Wild Review
  • "Into the Wild" didn't make me want to eke out a living in an abandoned bus, but it did make me yearn - just a little bit - for my younger, less cynical days when there was nothing but open road ahead, and such a journey would not have been out of the realm of possibility.

• The Hollywood Reporter: Into the Wild Review
  • What's missing is the perspective and insight that would illuminate the inner dimensions of a driven young man who is preachy and downright irritating.

• TIME: Into the Wild Review
  • I think the central mistake of this film derives from its lack of irony, a sense it refuses to impart that the world may not be exactly as the zealous Christopher perceives it to be.

• The New Yorker: Into the Wild Review
  • The hyperactive camera style is bizarrely mismatched to the movie's subject, which is one of single-minded asceticism and spiritual purity.

• Salon: Into the Wild Review
  • In fact, all through the movie, Chris -- supposedly interested more in souls and people than in money -- seems not just detached from life but disinterested in it. Detachment, at least, can be active as well as passive. Disinterest is just boring.

• Slate: Into the Wild Review
  • Sean Penn's Into the Wild (Paramount) is a bit like the trackless Alaskan forest where its hero meets his grim demise. It's seductively beautiful but tough to hack your way through, and it's all too easy to get lost in.

• This page was created by Laurie M, a Part Time Guide in the Mahalo Greenhouse (see the original), and curated by Jennifer.
• If you'd like to help us create the best spam free search results on the Internet, apply to be a Part Time Guide!