Wild (2014)

I was hoping to see something that at least equals Emille Hirsch's Into The Wild (2007). I set my expectation that high after seeing the striking similarities on many aspects. As Into The Wild was, this movie is also a true story based lone character centered journey of hiking a long path, running away and seeking an atonement for his/her self- perceived dark past of relationships with others and life mistakes. The movie actually tries to follow suit with Into The Wild's recipe of crisscrossing the story flow between the journey itself and the past.

With the breakdown of her marriage and the death of her mother, Cheryl has lost all hope.  After years of reckless behaviour, and abuse to her body, and close friends, she makes decision to hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, alone.  This is supposedly the story of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddens, strengthen, and ultimately heals her, but unfortunately, its Reese Witherspoon walking............a lot.

A big disappointment, especially when considering the content of the book. Instead of focusing on the high adventure of her journey along the PCT, we are inundated continually with graphic depictions of her one night stands and heroin use. The film could have included her troubled past in an appropriate way, but did not. So if you enjoy nude scenes with druggies, watching losers shooting up and drugged out, and hearing the constant use of the F word, this is the film for you.

Into the Woods (2014)

"Into the Woods" intermingles the fairy tales of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Red Riding Hood in a complex but fairly deftly plotted meta-fairy tale. A bewitched baker must bring back an item out of each fairy tale so that his wife may conceive, along the lines of the Sondheim musical.

Meryl Streep is superb as the witch. She symbolizes all the mothers who can't let their children grow up and leave the house, keeping Rapunzel locked in a tower and the young prince at bay for as long as she can. Rapunzel happens to be the baker's young sister, stolen by Streep as a baby to exact revenge on the baker's father, who visited her garden one night and made off without spilling the beans. But when did Meryl do a bad thing in movie? BUT when you say Meryl wont do a bad, this is her due. This movie imo is not good. Doesnt mean its not watchable.

"Into the Woods" is wordy and boring. It's a fairy tale story, so we expect something breezy and entertaining, not something existential and overbearing. As much as you can appreciate how Lapine and Sondheim have challenged the notion of fairy tales by turning them around on the audience, at some points it just gets boring. The film's third act, when "happily ever after" gets turned on its head, for example, is a test of patience, even though without it, the story would have no meaning and the film would therefore become artistically pointless.