INTO THE WILD (2007)

Chris McCandless (Emile Hirsch), just graduated from Emory University, gives away his bank account, burns his cash, destroys his credit and Social Security cards, and runs off to hitchhike to the wilds of Alaska without telling his parents or his sister. Along his meandering way he meets many gentle souls who shelter and help him with food, money, and work (the least they can do for a total stranger, right?), while he keeps a diary and lards it with quotes from Thoreau. Hirsh is excellent as Chris, and Hal Holbrook was nominatd for an Oscar as an old guy who wants to adopt him. It's easy to see why this metaphysical neo-hippie saga would attract Sean Penn's attention (he directed). The photography is stunning, but the constant time shifts are annoying, and the supposedly lofty theme (young man with promising future abandons all materialism) falls flat against the cruelty he inflicted on his family and his general aimlessness. Held my interest, though.