Reese Witherspoon stars as Cheryl Strayed: a young woman who burned her entire life to the ground and salted the ashes when her mother died. Her mother was her center, her strength, the one person who made her believe in herself. And without her, she was lost.
With an addict's impulsiveness and recklessness, Strayed decides to walk the Pacific Crest Trail. No training. No knowledge. No preparation. Just maxing out a credit card at REI and putting one foot in front of the other.
Strayed definitely gets special treatment for being a (pretty) lady alone on the trail. She also has to handle creeps who act like they're one bad thought away from raping her.
Strayed's story shows why you should hike with a buddy. Better people than Strayed have died in the wilderness because they were equally unprepared and reckless. Nature is ruthless. Strayed didn't survive through grit alone: she survived mostly through luck (and the kindness of strangers).
The movie is the kind that sneaks up on you. I thought I was above the heartstring tugging of the film, but then I lost it when the credits rolled and I was hit with the aching melancholy of Simon & Garfunkel's "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)."
I do hope that this isn't the next Eat, Pray, Love and inspires a hoard of young women to wander unprepared and alone into nature to find themselves. They could come out of the woods like Strayed, finally finding her center in herself. Or they could turn into Into the Wild's Chris McCandless.
Grade: A-
Final Verdict: A beautiful and touching story of one woman finding herself in a reckless, impulsive way. Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern (who played the mom) certainly deserved their Academy Award nominations - strong acting in this film.
If You Like This, Watch: Into the Wild, Julie & Julia, 127 Hours
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