Wild: A Movie Review

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Hmmm, am scheduled for executive physical check-up tomorrow. Finally. Decided to take it easy to avoid the blood from soaring high. Sat on the couch legs up and watched what turned up to be a true story: Wild. Reese Witherspoon on the lead role. Recounts the personal journey of a 26 year old Cheryl Strayed grieving over the loss of her mother to cancer and the subsequent decline of her marriage. Cheryl goes on a hiking trail through the Pacific Crest Trail on her lonesome, carrying a backpack perhaps twice her weight. Like any wild adventure, Cheryl endures the elements, and a few fearsome encounters from fellow hikers or travelers. Yet, she finds melancholic moments in the ordinary country dwellers like a child who indulged her singing Red River Valley. The desert scenes are severely punishing and the lack of water caused the main character hallucinations. Still, Cheryl pushes on, one foot in front of the other, the journey of a thousand miles. The hike is actually a means to find one's self. Cheryl recalls the nightmares of her childhood, the spoils of her youth, and the tender loving care of her mother whose presence was the only constant in her being. The end brings Cheryl on a bridge where she decides where to go. The movie is probably a reflection of many a lost soul wandering desert lands. Or the wilderness. Recalling another movie about a rich kid Chris McCandless who also ventured 'Into the Wild' but wasn't as lucky to emerge from it. Recalling also another rich kid called Francis eight centuries back who abandoned all wealth and found peace as a hermit in Mt. La Verna. It's like a tendency of people to find peace away from all the noise. Like the Condor.