I had trouble getting into “Wild.” Its stream of consciousness approach is difficult to follow as the film navigates through flashbacks of Cheryl Strayed's life with disregard to chronology or relevance. I had a difficult time empathizing with any character since they sporadically disappeared and reappeared throughout the film. It is amazing that this is a true story and I applaud Cheryl Strayed for her journey, but I did not need to know this many details of any person’s life. The critics have praised Reese Witherspoon and this is the sort of role where the Academy loves to give a nomination for Best Actor/Actress; however, when you consider Tom Hanks in “Castaway” and James Franco in “127 Hours,” how can you put Reese’s performance in the same category? It was gritty, she screamed the f-word a lot, and she did her own nudity, but the emotions fell flat in comparison with the aforementioned actors. If you’re watching this because of Reese, try “Walk the Line” instead. Likewise, I love Laura Dern but I am dumbfounded by this nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The scenes are so short that we don’t see any of her emotions develop. She didn’t even have “the scene” (a la Anne Hathaway in “Les Mis”) that is so moving that she earns an Oscar with five minutes of screentime. If the Academy just really wanted her to have a nomination, Dern’s performance in “The Fault in Our Stars” would have made more sense. Maybe the pool is pretty shallow for this category, but I’m insulted that this meager performance was nominated over Tilda Swinton in “Snowpiercer.” The acting is good in this movie but I wouldn’t consider anybody to be great. “Wild” tells an amazing story but is way too honest and detailed to be considered entertainment.
[Pictured: Too much honesty and too many f-words from America's Sweetheart]
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