Day 178: Into the Wild

Unwilling to live in a society of hypocrites, Christopher takes off to live in the wild. He wants the simple pleasures of waking up in the open air, with the sunshine above him and the dirt below. Through his journey he meets some great people and comes to an understanding of life.

I know a lot of people have a problem with this because he dies and so they think there’s no point to it but I’m not convinced that it matters that he died, what matters is how he spent his time when he was alive. For the majority of the film, he is quite happy to spend his time alone in the wild but that seems to be only when he has the choice to spend his life that way. When he ends up trapped in the wild and moments from death, he writes that happiness is only real when it’s shared. He had a wonderful time and he saw some beautiful things but in the end, he would’ve liked to have shared that with someone. It’s a shame that he had to die in order to realise that but even so, he didn’t seem to regret how he spent the rest of his time. It just doesn’t seem to matter that he dies at the end because he still enjoyed his life leading up to that point.

The film is based on the story of Christopher Johnson McCandless. When people talk about him, they seem to be split into two camps; hero or fool. I can understand the points for both sides but I’m not sure I see him as either. He decided to make a radical change in his lifestyle and he has some amazing experiences that a lot of people just won’t have, and that’s pretty amazing. He renounced materialism and went back to nature. That’s impressive, definitely. I would love to be able to do that but I don’t think I’d survive a week. And yes, he bought a book about which plants he could eat and ultimately ended up reading it wrong and then died, which could be considered foolish, yes. I just think he was brave for escaping the world so many of us complain about and for doing what he wanted to do, even if he did die as a result.

9/10

Day 140: Up In The Air

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) spends the majority of his life on planes, flying all over America. When faced with the possibility of no longer being able to do that, he panics; it is all he knows and he loves it. But he comes to realise that maybe there is more to life than endless freedom.

I’ve always thought that it must be exciting to have the freedom to go anywhere without any responsibilities or restrictions, it always seemed like anything might be possible that way. But I’m not sure I believe that now, and the film does a good job of showing the change. People don’t want to be tied down in their lives and it’s natural to dream about being able to just take off and leave it all behind. But at the same time, people do want to be tied down. They want stability and someone to share a life with. Maybe it’s better to think of the stable aspects of your life as a base, or a starting point. And you can still be free and do the things you dream about, but you can always come back to the people who care for you and who allow you to be yourself.

8/10

Day 111: Due Date

Violent bastard Peter (Robert Downey Jr) is trying to get back to L.A. in time for the birth of his child but things go massively wrong when he meets Ethan (Zach Galifianakis). The two go on an adventure-filled road trip and learn some things about themselves. Obviously.

I’m not really sure people like Ethan actually exist in real life. They're probably the kind of people who end up in a cult. Or murdered because they wanted to check out the puppies some guy in a trenchcoat had in his van. Maybe he’s not that bad though, I think I’d have been able to suffer him much better than Peter did. Peter did end up making everything worse and was just a bastard for the majority of the film. And I understand that he was pissed off at maybe having to miss the birth of his child, but he was just rude to everybody he came across. He punched a kid in the stomach and spat on a dog. I mean, come on. But after getting stoned he lightens up and becomes a nicer guy. He obviously never thought he’d end up liking someone like Ethan but he goes with it.

Peter gets his friend to pick them up after the car wreck and they go back to his house. His friend, Daryl (Jamie Foxx), used to be with his wife years before but Daryl has a recent picture of the two together and he still talks to her a lot. Is it weird when people who used to be a couple spend time together? I never really understand the ‘We can still be friends’ aspect of a break-up, it just seems like it’d be really difficult to do well. But then just never really talking to someone again that you used to be so close with is also strange. Like, one day you’re together and they’re your person, then the next you just never talk. That is odd. My Mum says that being with a particular person is just a habit and when you break up, you’re not missing the person so much as you’re missing the habit and that if you just give it time then you’ll realise the person wasn’t all that important. I’m not really a fan of that opinion, however. But then it seems to follow along the lines of loving someone because of what they do for you and not because of who they are. Surely if you loved them for who they are then it would actually be them you missed, not just the little habits that you shared with them? Although I know it can be hard to really pull apart the love for the person and the love for what they do for you. I’ve gone off on a tangent, I think. Anyway!

The film wasn’t anything spectacular. I liked that Robert Downey Jr’s wife (Michelle Monaghan) was his love interest in ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’. Now that’s a good film. This one, however, was kind of boring in places. I did laugh sometimes but I wouldn’t watch it again.

6/10