Other Media Review

Movie review: Wild

Wild is, hands down, for me, the best movie of 2014. It’s profound, filled with complex, interesting female characters, and two incredible performances that got well-deserved Academy Award nominations.

Everyone knows that its true that I have no heart and no soul, and I was crying so much at the end of the movie I didn’t really want to leave the theater until I had more control over myself. (Reaction to that news from Ppyajunebug in text message: “woooooooooow”)

Wild is about Cheryl Strayed, who hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexico-US Border to the Oregon-Washington border after she completely lost control of her life when her mother died. It’s partially about her actual journey, and partially flashbacks to her relationship with her mother (who she describes at one point as “the love of my life”), and flashbacks to the disaster her life became after her mother’s sudden death from cancer.

The way the threads are woven together, non-sequentially, so it all comes together into focus at the end is so well done. I love it when movies expect you to keep up and don’t assume the audience is dumb and needs to be spoon fed. There are flashes from scenes you don’t get the full context of until later, and it really feels like bits of memory that Cheryl is sorting through and processing as she hikes the trail.

Grief makes people do strange things, and Cheryl very literally walks away from the disaster that was her life (a divorce, drug use, poor sexual decisions), with the intention of “walking myself back to the woman my mother thought I was.” She has no address, no possessions but the (huge) pack on her back, and nothing but a stubborn refusal to give up. Does she think about quitting? Yes. Often. But she never does, not even when she loses a toenail or hikes 50 miles on Teva sandals duct-taped to her feet. She has supply packages being sent to wayside stops, but mostly, she’s on her own.

It’s interesting to see the juxtaposition of some advantages she has as as lone female hiker on the trail- people are more willing to help her out with rides and advice- with the real vulnerabilities she has, too. There’s a few times where she find herself in actual danger (she is not raped, though there are a few points where she is either very afraid of that happening, or she would have been if not for the intervention of someone else). There’s a lovely moment where she meets another woman hiking by herself, and they share solidarity

Witherspoon is amazing. I’ve never heard her say “fuck” so many times, and so much of the movie is her walking, walking, walking. I don’t know if they shot in sequence or not, but the gradual lessening of tension on her face as she makes her way north- fuck, I’m getting all weepy thinking about it. We’ve known for a long time that Witherspoon was a great actress; here she became extraordinary.

Laura Dern in WildBut we also need to talk about Laura Dern as Bobbi, Cheryl’s mother. There’s such a streak of steel in this woman that you never really understand until you see the whole picture of who she is and what she has done for her family. If Witherspoon is the skeleton of this movie, Dern is the connective tissue. There is no one without the other.

I won’t deny that this movie made me think about my relationship with my mother. I wouldn’t describe my mom as my best friend; our relationship goes deeper than that. She’s the only person I’ve known my entire life. She’s had the single biggest shaping of my life, and I would not be who I am without her. We’ve had some health scares, and I am a terrified of the future.

I ranted a little bit about the Academy Award nominations in my review of Selma, but I’m gonna do it more and at length because of the 8 Best Picture nominees, ALL of them are stories about men. In the majority of them, there isn’t even a lead role for an actress. Only one Lead Actress nomination is for a role in one of the Best Picture films, and the rest of the Lead Actress nominations come from movies that the Academy did not deem worthy.

We can say all we want that awards have no bearing on actual quality of movies, and maybe we’re right, but they do have a very serious effect on what movies get made in the first place. If the only movies that get recognized are about tortured white male geniuses (four out of eight) or American jingoism (whhhhhy American Sniper why) than that’s what’s going to get made. We’re stuck in a cycle where because there isn’t a value placed on telling women’s stories, there’s a perception that women aren’t important, and because of the perception that women are not important, there’s no value placed on telling their stories.

(And you can substitute any minority in place of “women” and the same idea holds true.)

We are 50% of the population. Our stories are as important as that of men, but because the vast majority of filmmakers and film financiers are men, there’s less emphasis placed on the merits of women centered stories and films. I have so much respect for Reese Witherspoon because she puts her money and resources into championing films like Gone Girl (which she bought the rights for and hoped to star in, but when Fincher decided that she wasn’t right for the part, she stayed on as producer, and has been so supportive of Rosamund Pike in the role. Yay women supporting women!), Wild, and Penelope.

We need more support of female-centered stories, because representation matters. We know that what people see reflected in the media factors into what they believe a normal version of the world looks like. We know this. This is a problem that can be fixed.

We demonstrate time and time and time again that women-led action franchises are successful (The Hunger Games, anyone?) but we have to wait until 2018 until we get a female-led Marvel movie. We have a spectacular, complicated, brilliant film like Wild get overlooked amid a dearth of other women-led films, but we can always get another film about being a tortured genius white dude and the woman who either supports him or says “Do not do this brave thing.”

There’s a moment, right after Bobbi’s cancer diagnosis when she knows she’s staring death in the face that she says, “I’ve always been the wife, the mother. I’ve never been in the driver’s seat of my own story.” This is so true of so many movies these days. It’s not true of this movie, and for that I am grateful.


Wild is in theatres now, and you can find tickets (US) at Fandango and Moviefone.

Add Your Comment →

  1. Heather S says:

    I’ve been wanting to see Wild so much – I read the book when it first came out and the first part really stomped all over my feels. I considered giving it to my mom until I realized all the cuss words and the fact that the mother dies from cancer (my grandmother – my mom’s mom – died of pancreatic and stomach cancer in 2008, and I know it’s still a sensitive area) made the book a not-so-great choice for a present for my mom. Still, it’s really a wonderful book and shows that even someone who has hit rock bottom can pick themselves back up again.

  2. Heather S says:

    Your comment on how representation of women in the media matters is very accurate. It reminds me of the “Like a Girl” ad from Always – the media not only influences how men think of women, but how women think of themselves. If you haven’t seen the ad, watch it here and prepare to feel angry at the way women have been taught to mock themselves – and how it hurts we realize the messages we’ve internalized. The difference between the way girls see themselves and 20-something women see themselves is astonishing.

  3. Heather S says:

    Oops, here’s the full video I meant to link here. The tears in the women’s eyes when they realize what has happened to them just gets me every time.

  4. ReneeG says:

    I wasn’t gong to see Wild, because I loved the book so much. But you’re right about the movies being made about white dudes – and the people paying to see those movies. So I’m spending my movie dollars on Wild this weekend.

  5. chacha1 says:

    I will see it, one way or another!

  6. I loved this book so much! I was very hesitant to see the movie, but your review makes it sound like it really does the book justice.

    And thank you Heather S. for sharing that ad – I love it!

  7. I couldn’t watch this, much as I admire it, because my mother died of cancer. But it does sound amazing. And thank you also to Heather S. for the link. I watched that ad three times, and it’s wonderful.

  8. Emily says:

    Great review and interesting perspective!
    @Amanda I have not read or wanted to go near Gone Girl because as far as I can tell it’s basically my wife is evil and I’m stuck with the bitch story? What am I missing here? How is this good about women?
    I agree with you about tortured male geniuses (especially annoys me because where are the tortured female geniuses with their husbands, etc.)
    I would say women are more pressured to be perfect, but then most of these men seem to be heroes (at least in their eyes and the eyes of the people making the movie.)

  9. Redheadedgirl says:

    @Emily, I’m assuming you’re asking me?

    I think Gone Girl is a lot more complex than that- no one is the hero of that one, and the book is a deep exploration of a female sociopath, and what circumstances lead these two terrible people to each other. The book (and the movie, but the book is more in depth about this) makes no bones that Nick is a terrible person, and so is Amy, and maybe they deserve each other, and the people around them are just collateral damage. As a role for an actress, Amy is one that has so many layers to sink your teeth into, and I can see why Reese wanted it.

    I think it’s good for women in how it fits into the rest of the universe- You don’t have to make women always be the perfect heroes that never fall into any negative portrayals or stereotypes (that’s exhausting) but you CAN make a complex, layered villain. We need those, too.

    Are there problematic issues? Sure, but hey, there are problematic issues in life.

  10. Dread Pirate Rachel says:

    God. I can’t watch this right now. I could barely make it through the review. I just had to quit The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, because it’s about a woman who died of cancer.

    My mom just found out that her breast cancer has metastasized to her bones and there is no cure. There’s an 85% probability that I will lose her within five years. So right now I’m focusing on any and all books and movies that do not involve mothers dying of cancer.

    And now I’m crying at work. Fuck.

  11. Coco says:

    @ Dread Pirate Rachel

    I’m so sorry this is happening to you and to her. Nobody should have to go through that.

  12. Danker says:

    Thanks for the review of Wild. On the basis of your A+ rating, I’m now keen to see the film. I had previously decided to give it a miss, because I am also trying to avoid sad stories about cancer.

    I agree with you re the blokeyness of the line-up for the Oscars this year – yuck to the sniper film, in particular – but I think that The Theory of Everything is at least one exception.

    This film, about the British scientist, Stephen Hawking is based on a book written by his wife, Jane, after he had left her for another woman. Jane Hawking has been quoted as saying that she wrote the book to ensure that her 25 year old presence in and support of his life would not be written out of history. She was angry about that possibility. Evidently, the original version included a number of acerbic assessments of the genius that she has chosen to soften, or even omit, as they have reconciled to friendship, but it is still her story. I do want to see this one.

    From what I have read of her story, I think that Jane Hawking’s experiences demonstrate that we expect total sublimation by a woman (even a very clever Cambridge scholar) who is married to a disabled/sick/dying genius. Hawking has certainly benefited from that attitude.

    In my experience, ailing women do so much less often.

    In any event, Hawking has certainly proved to be luckier than Jacqueline du Pré, whose experiences exemplify my point. The career and life of this brilliant British cellist (her recording of Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor is truly sublime) were cut short by multiple sclerosis. She was married, until death – to Daniel Barenboim, also a brilliant musician, who has gone on to provide wonderful experiences for music lovers. I make no criticism of him, but I think it is reasonable to suggest that most people did not expect him to put his career and life totally on hold to be with her every day, to care for her personally, year in, year out – and he didn’t.

  13. Carol says:

    @Dread Pirate Rachel

    Big hugs to you and your mom (and other loved ones). This is a terrible thing, but may it bind you closer in love.

  14. Redheadedgirl says:

    @DPR I am so sorry. ::hugs::

  15. Thanks, all, for your kind words. I really didn’t mean to hijack the comments like that, but I’m grateful for the support of such a wonderful community.

  16. LMG says:

    Ok, honest question…if I couldn’t stand the book, should I still see the movie? I thought Strayed came off like an entitled snot who had to deal with some very heavy sh*t but couldn’t get over herself, even after this hike. I didn’t see the personal growth that I’d hoped to see in this book. Does the movie give more of this? It certainly sounds like it from this review and comments.

    I’ve talked to two other good reader-friends who felt the same way as I…I was feeling like I was the only person who felt this way for awhile…

  17. Emily says:

    @DreadPirateRachel
    My sympathy for your situation. That is awful!

    @Redheadgirl
    Yes, I meant you. It stupid of me to type Amanda, but I had listened to the podcast and it was late.
    Thanking for explaining Gone Girl. I didn’t mean to be critical. I had read reviews saying she’s evil and he’s not so bad….
    So I think your response is very informative, and I agree women can be villains.

    Again I really liked your review of Wild.

  18. txkl28 says:

    I am currently reading this memoir and in reading about it before it spoke to me. And this weekend I bought it. My TBR is enormous, but this is a must read for me. I love quest books and this seems to me to be a quest book. I am looking forward to reading this and watching the movie. I might have to buy the movie when it comes out now.

  19. txkl28 says:

    I wrote my previous comment before I read the discussion. TO Danker: Look at cough syrup commercials. Women are expected to get up and make sure that their man is taken care of, but men never do the same in those commercials.

  20. Jean Lamb says:

    The whole dichotomy of who cares for whom is why I never gave a rat’s ass about Lance Armstrong; when he had cancer, Sheryl Crow put her career on hold to help save his life. When she had cancer…eh, not so much.

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