Movie Review: Wild

Wild (2014) 

Directed by Jean Marc Vallee

Written by Nick Hornby 

Starring Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Thomas Sadoski 

Release Date December 3rd, 2014

Published December 1st, 2014 

I fell in love with Cheryl Strayed in "Wild." As played by Reese Witherspoon as a lost soul with her heart on her sleeve, with those big, beautiful, Reese Witherspoon eyes, it's nearly impossible not to fall for her. Add to that a highly compelling journey through rain, snow and creepy backwoods hunters, and you have the makings of awards-worthy entertainment.

Strayed was a troubled woman, especially in the wake of her mother's death. She began using heroin and sleeping around, and it cost her marriage. To right her ship and get clean, she chose a measure nearly as extreme as her attempts at self-destruction. In 1995 Cheryl set off to hike from Mexico to Canada: the Pacific Crest Trail. 

The film begins with Cheryl, who never has been much of a hiker before, building a comically over-sized pack that other hikers nickname “The Monster.” Watching Witherspoon struggle to stand under the uneasy weight of her pack is quite funny but also rather poignant. Cheryl put nearly her entire body weight on her back, a perfect symbolic representation of the emotional baggage she was attempting to shake on this journey. 

I love stories about compassion, and this is indeed a deeply compassionate story, filled with characters who come to admire and assist Cheryl as she makes her incredibly challenging journey. Pruitt Taylor Vince is up first as a rancher who gives Cheryl a place for a warm meal and a hot shower after she's found herself in the middle of nowhere with the wrong kind of cooking torch. Vince comes off as a creep initially, but soon becomes Cheryl's first new friend on the trip. 

Tracking her progress and sending care packages is Cheryl's former husband Paul (Thomas Sadoski). The relationship between Cheryl and Paul is moving, even though Paul is only a minor character in the story. The letters he sends Cheryl during her journey and the flashbacks to their time together while she was falling apart are powerful and evocative of two people who love each other but can't take the hurt anymore. 

The story of "Wild" is exceptionally well-told thanks to director Jean-Marc Vallee ("Dallas Buyers Club"), writer Nick Hornby, and cinematographer Yves Belanger. Many will argue that it’s easy to make the Pacific Crest Trail look beautiful. But it’s the way in which Belanger captures Witherspoon against that beautiful background that makes it stand out. The film was shot almost entirely in natural light, with a handheld camera but without the usual clumsiness of a handheld. 

Witherspoon is remarkable in "Wild." She gathers the contradictions of Strayed -- her wounded pride, her deep well of grief and her surprising grit -- into one of the most compelling and entertaining performances of the year. 

It's nearly impossible not to fall in love with Cheryl Strayed. I dare you to try. 

Movie Review: The Young Victoria

The Young Victoria (2009) 

Directed by Jean Marc Vallee 

Written by Julian Fellowes 

Starring Emily Blunt, Paul Bettany, Rupert Friend, Miranda Richardson, Jim Broadbent

Release Date December 18th, 2009

Published January 6th, 2010 

"Queen Victoria, one of our more frumpy Queens. They're all frumpy aren't they? Because it's a bad idea when cousins marry." Eddie Izzard "Dressed to Kill"

That quote was all I could think when I sat to watch The Young Victoria. Eddie Izzard's pointedly funny takedown of royal lineage threatened, early on, to affect my ability to enjoy this take on Queen Victoria's rise to power. What a welcome surprise it was then that star Emily Blunt made me forget all about Mr. Izzard, at least till the film was over, and with the great aid of an exceptional script by Oscar winner Julian Fellowes, made me love this movie.

The Young Victoria tells the story of Queen Victoria from the time just before she became Queen through her struggle with parliament and marriage to Prince Albert (Rupert Friend). We learn that as a young woman Victoria was kept from the world at large by her dour mother, the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson) and her mother's consort Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong).

Both pressured the teenage heir to King William's (Jim Broadbent) throne to make them her Royal Regent, essentially ceding them the power over the monarchy. She refused, meanwhile the King himself conspired to win her favor with the help of the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany), and the King's brother in law, and the ruler of Belgium, King Leopold (Thomas Kretschmann) maneuvered to move his bloodline into power through his nephew Albert.

For his part, Albert proved to be more than just another pawn in another power play. Over the course of Victoria's rise to power he is a trusted friend, confidante and eventually a husband and lover. It is in this relationship between Emily Blunt’s precocious yet savvy Victoria and Friend's stolid yet loving Albert that The Young Victoria gets it's romantic drive.

Emily Blunt is a powerhouse in The Young Victoria. Sure, she looks nothing like what is known of Victoria, ('one of our more frumpy Queens') but as she has told reviewers, you want realistic, watch the history channel. This is a Victoria for pop culture consumption and as such it works. Blunt's Victoria is sexy and smart, winsome and powerful. 

Ms. Blunt has remarkable chemistry not just with Mr. Friend, who is only just her equal, but also with the exceptionally cunning Paul Bettany and the always welcome Jim Broadbent, in a terrific cameo. The rest of the cast, minus the Snidely Whiplash-esque Mark Strong as the villain of the piece, is uniformly excellent. 

Adding to the power of Ms. Blunt's performance is an exceptionally smart, witty and concise script by Oscar winner Julian Fellowes. Mr. Fellowes takes a sprawling story of high court conspirators boils them down to their essences and keeps the audience in firm grasp of the various plots, machinations and maneuvers going on around our Victoria all while creating a hot house atmosphere of Victorian Era intrigue. 

So often period pieces like The Young Victoria can seem like inaccessible museum pieces all stuffy and puffed up. Fellowes and director Jean Marc Vallee deftly introduce a little soapy daytime drama into the mix without losing their air of cinematic importance. This is high minded drama but with a sense of the modern culture, hence the choice of a sexy Queen and lithesome, Edward Cullen-esque, leading man. 

The Young Victoria is tart and smart and features a star-making performance from Emily Blunt who may be more of a contender for Best Actress than many think. This is just the kind of glorious underdog of a performance that arrives on Oscar night to upset the apple cart of Oscar expectations. Here's hoping that Mr. Fellowes' scripting doesn't go unnoticed on Oscar night as well.