Chris Curtis

Into the Wild (Sean Penn)

Sean Penn, now there's an interesting guy. Marries Madonna, spends most of the 90's in trouble, in jail and out of vogue, then reinvents himself as a 'serious' actor with some 'serious' success (Mystic River, 21 Grams and the rather fab Assassination of Richard Nixon) and then, as if that wasn't enough, starts directing and writing art house films that are gaining all kinds of appreciative write ups. Which brings us to 'Into the Wild', a kind of pet project that Penn has written (adapting it from a book) and directed. And which I finally caught up with last night, a few weeks after its UK release ($13 million in the US, which isn't bad for an 'art house' kind of film).

Anyway, thinking it was 90 minute quickie and knowing a little about the true story it depicts, I head in what turns out to be 2 hours and 20 minutes (!) and a story that has a great deal more depth to it that I realised. No wonder Penn came across the book and decided he had to make the film.

The film. In a nutshell, a young man graduating from college eschews the consumeristic career driven world before him and heads off on a journey of discovery that leads him to the wilderness of Alaska in a bid to discover his soul and rid himself of the demons left behind by an abusive father. Although that doesn't do justice to a fascinating story and powerful drama. Rom-com it isn't, but it is very very good. The scenery alone would have been worth the ticket, but the story doesn't hold back either. What we are shown is a young man Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) in a journey to escape a profoundly dysfunctional family history and find spiritual solace in creation and truth. It all sounds very pretentious, and Chris certainly veers in that direction, but you can't help travelling with him on the journey and admiring him for the courage he shows in turning his back on a consumer driven society. I recommended this film in Youthwork magazine for older teens and I really do think it would make a fantastic experience for them. One of the best of the month.

Film?

Tonight England went out of Euro 2008, but I venture a greater shock to the world is the startling realisation that I have only seen 2 films in the month of November. That's right. 'Sicko' and 'Lions for Lambs' is as far as it goes.

December will be different.

Sicko (Michale Moore)

A lot's been written about this film in the UK, mostly people in the UK pointing out that the NHS isn't as rosy as Moore pictures it. I think this is to misunderstand what Moore does. Nowhere is he claiming that the NHS is perfect, he just focuses on the positives - and there are positives. If the film was about the NHS instead of the American healthcare system then, yes, not taking a hard look at the failings of the NHS would be crazy. But this is a film about how the US is pretty much the only Western country not to have a comprehensive government sponsored medical system. In this context, talking to French and British people about their experience is just what's needed, and a full critique would be inappropriate. The point is not 'is the NHS perfect?', it's 'Just how sick is the US healthcare system'.

I loved this film, it was unashamedly provocative and, let's face it, subtlety doesn't work in films like this. Moore gets this and so sets out to take a large mallet and whack the failings of the US system into orbit. This he does. It's a great film, and doesn't deserve the endless needling about references to the UK system.