Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Wild Blu-ray Movie Review

The Oregon (and California with a brief detour to Nevada) Trail.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 1, 2015

Cheryl Strayed—what a slacker! The Pacific Crest Trail stretches for well over 2,600 miles, spanning an awesome wilderness that covers huge swaths of California, my home state of Oregon and Washington. And yet this obviously lazy and unmotivated woman only managed to hike a mere 1,100 miles or so, a feat which culminated in her bestselling memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, a book which Oprah famously utilized to relaunch her equally famous Book Club. Of course the above is said with tongue planted firmly in cheek, for Strayed’s impressive achievement is actually manifold: not only did she manage to make it through an emotionally harrowing and physically exhausting trek, she went on to write about it with a visceral intensity that brought not just the external experience of walking through a vast wilderness completely alive, but which also illuminated a sometime fractious psychological history, a history which in fact informed Strayed’s very decision to undertake the hike in the first place. Wild plays upon that dialectic between the physical world and Strayed’s interior monologue in an effective and affecting manner, offering a compelling portrait of a woman “searching for herself” in a completely unlikely environment. Propelled by a fierce and determined, yet at times wonderfully vulnerable, performance by Reese Witherspoon as Strayed, Wild is part travelogue, part personal realization tale, with a slowly revelatory plot structure which patiently peels back the layers of Strayed’s trouble strewn history to uncover a series of unfortunate hands dealt to the young woman, some admittedly self-inflicted, which played into her roiling emotional state.

There’s a brief but telling vignette that starts out Wild in a rather funny way. Cheryl has managed to make it to the top of a rather daunting mountain peak, but she’s badly bruised and battered, and the damage to her body is revealed to be even worse than initially on view when she peels off her boot and sock and takes a look at a bloody and mangled foot, one with the large toenail obviously shorn from its socket and ready to be pulled off. In so doing (in a wince inducing moment), Cheryl inadvertently bumps one of her boots, which goes catapulting down the precipitous hillside into some unseen valley. Disbelievingly, Cheryl stares at the boot bouncing down the steep grade, and then she does something rather unexpected. She picks up her other boot and tosses it into the void, screaming a hearty string of expletive epithets at whatever unseen force is toying with her so callously. The fact that Cheryl chooses herself to add insult to injury (so to speak) is nonetheless an important clue into her stubborn and occasionally reactionary demeanor.

Scenarist Nick Hornby and director Jean-Marc Vallée indulge in both brief bursts of montage as well as longer (though intermittent) flashback sequences to dole out information about Cheryl. She’s obviously a character lost in various interior landscapes of memory, reminiscences which often collide with whatever she’s going through on her hike. There are some quick snippets of Cheryl as a child (that’s evidently the real daughter of Cheryl Strayed in these scenes), which introduces her sweet single mother Bobbi (Laura Dern). Another quick vignette reveals that Bobbi is trying to make a go at getting a college education well into her middle age, attending the same school as young adult Cheryl. An even later vignette tends to reveal both the pride and heartache Bobbi feels at having raised such an intelligent, if occasionally brusque and defiant, daughter. Cheryl remarks about how much more sophisticated at her age she is than Bobbi was back in the day, and Bobbi responds wistfully that that had always been her plan, though she didn’t realize how much it would hurt to hear it. It’s in small, almost picayune, moments like these that Wild rather miraculously reveals years of family interactions in brief, almost laconic, scenes.

Other flashbacks also begin to detail Cheryl’s problematic former marriage with Paul (Thomas Sadoski). A phone call between the two early in the film offers an awkward introduction to their relationship, but it’s only later that it becomes clear the two were actually married. Cheryl’s self chosen post-divorce surname is but one external sign of a series of behaviors she indulged in which at least contributed to the divorce. (There’s a fun scene with Paul and Cheryl getting tattooed in “honor” of their divorce. That’s Portlander Art Alexakis of the band Everclear as the tattoo artist.)

The two main backstory elements dealing with Bobbi and Paul offer recurring snippets, while other somewhat tangential but no less meaningful information is imparted, including Cheryl’s struggles with substance abuse and her sometimes contentious relationship with best friend Aimee (Gaby Hoffman). While the memories keep flooding in, the film actually moves forward chronologically through Cheryl’s adventures on the Pacific Crest Trail. These elements are as anecdotal as the memories are, introducing a gaggle of at times pretty eccentric characters, but perhaps rather unexpectedly, Hornby’s screenplay knits everything together in an enjoyably organic and ultimately quite meaningful way.

The film has a few extremely minor stumbles along the path. While the memories finally provide a putative reason for both Cheryl’s emotional breakdown and subsequent attempt to “find herself” on the trail, armchair psychologists may wish for a trifle more introspective information to have been imparted. Certainly scores of others have encountered as much trauma and as many setbacks as Cheryl without resorting to some of her self-destructive behaviors, and the film never really satisfactorily explores or explains this element. The arc with Bobbi, while ultimately emotionally devastating and obviously culled from real life, plays a bit pat at times, at least with the interstitial presentation it’s afforded in the film. Finally, occasionally Vallée can’t quite keep from offering pretty on the nose formulations of Cheryl’s self-discovery by presenting little tidbits like her managing an imposing rock face or fording a river and then smiling to herself as if to say, “Gosh, I can succeed.”

These are admittedly small quibbles in what is otherwise a sterling piece of character driven drama within the context of a glorious if occasionally treacherous journey. Witherspoon has rarely been more compelling, and she brings a wonderfully self-aware wryness to the character. Dern is extremely touching as Bobbi, a woman who has taken her own less grandiose sojourn through sadness and disappointment, coming out surprisingly sanguine in the process. The supporting cast, which features a gaggle of mostly endearing characters Cheryl meets on her way, is top flight, making Wild one of the most enjoyable cinematic expeditions in recent memory.

Wild Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Wild is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39. Digitally shot with the Arri Alexa XT, Wild is often a sumptuously beautiful high definition experience, one that offers not just a crisp, precise account of fine detail in close-ups of various characters' faces, but at times simply awe inspiring vistas of the Pacific Crest Trail. The bulk of the film is obviously shot out doors, and depth of field is fantastic in several wide shots Vallée and cinematographer Yves Bélanger employ to establish scale (some shots become an almost "Where's Waldo?" and/or "Where's Cheryl?" hunting game due to the massive scenery surrounding the lone hiker). While some scenes are moderately color graded (some of the childhood scenes in a warm amber, other sequences in cooler blues), detail generally remains very strong and sharpness and clarity are rarely if ever compromised. As I've mentioned in previous reviews of Arri (and Red) shot films, I still have minor qualms with dimly lit interior scenes, which often lack substantial shadow detail and which struggle at times to provide variations in darker gradients (look at screenshot 8, for example, where hapless Cheryl's back, buried under her heavy backpack, lacks much definition). The good news is, despite the prevalence of some dusky and/or nighttime scenes, as well as the darker interior moments the film exploits, there are no issues with noise or other imperfections. There are similarly no issues with image instability.

Note: The real life Cheryl Strayed has a very brief cameo at the head of the film. I've included a screenshot of her in the 19th position.

Wild Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Wild's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix provides a generous sampling of surround activity with a glut of ambient environmental sounds that flit through the channels as Cheryl makes her way through the wilderness. Dialogue, along with Cheryl's occasional voiceovers, is presented cleanly and clearly. The film employs a few source cues, including Simon and Garfunkel's "El Condor Pasa" and Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne," that not only sound great but are sometimes toyed with as Cheryl traipses in and out of memory. Fidelity is excellent throughout the presentation. Dynamic range is fairly restrained.

Wild Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 7:49) offer optional commentary by Jean-Marc Vallée.


• The Real Cheryl Strayed (1080p; 8:37) is an interesting piece profiling Strayed, featuring some nice looks at Oregon and Portland.


• The Real Location is the Best Location (1080p; 8:45) looks at some of the amazing locations the film utilizes.


• How Much Does a Monster Weigh? (1080p; 3:46) "profiles" Cheryl's insanely huge backpack.


• The Pacific Crest Trail Interactive Map provides a really interesting timeline of Cheryl's journey with "route markers" that allow clickable access to various points in the film.


• Promotional Featurettes:

  Bringing the Book Into the Wild (1080p; 3:35)

  Reese Witherspoon In the Wild (1080p; 3:55)

  Wild: 94 Days, 1100 Miles (1080p; 3:18)

  Directing Wild (1080p; 3:56)

  Making Wild (1080p; 5:21)

  Pacific Crest Trail (1080p; 4:07)

  Real Locations (1080p; 3:21)

• Audio Commentary by Jean-Marc Vallée, Bruna Papandrea and David Greenbaum


• Experiencing the PCT: A Special Message from Cheryl Strayed (1080p; 1:47)


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:02)


• Gallery (1080p; 2:03) offers both an Auto Advance and a Manual Advance option. The timing is for the Auto Advance option.

Note: Instead of a standard insert booklet, there's a sweet mini-essay with photos by Cheryl Strayed called "Life After Wild."

Wild Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

We Oregonians tend to pride ourselves on our pioneer spirit, and there's probably no finer contemporary example than that of Cheryl Strayed. Wild is an unusually compelling film, one that ping pongs rather effortlessly between its travelogue elements and the somewhat more labyrinthine journey Strayed takes through her roiling psyche. The film has a rare feel of authenticity, one that is certainly aided and abetted by riveting performances by the Oscar nominated Witherspoon and Dern. Technical merits are outstanding, and the supplemental package is extremely enjoyable. Highly recommended.