'Wild' Opens Today!

Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl Strayed in Wild.
Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Head's up! Wild, my favourite film of the year, should now be playing in a theatre near you! The film's reached the next stage in its journey after walking miles and miles from Telluride to Toronto and then some, and now it's your turn to experience Jean-Marc Vallée's beautiful and moving memory puzzle. (Read the TIFF interview with Jean-Marc Vallée and Laura Dern here.)  Fans of the book won't be disappointed, while the adaptation brings the warmth, humour and disarming frankness of Strayed's book to life so vividly as Reese Witherspoon gives the performance of her life as Strayed, while Laura Dern gives an Oscar-worthy performance as Strayed's mother, Bobbi. I  revisited Wild recently amidst the recent whirlwind trip through the screener pile and the power of Strayed's journey bowled me over even more the second. Films rarely improve on memories and expectations as strongly as Wild does, and it's no wonder that my favourite film from TIFF is also my favourite film of the year.


I'm at the cottage for the weekend for an annual family Christmas dinner, cooking a 'fish dinner' of about a dozen dishes or so for fifty people, so I'll have more of the Wild gushing for the upcoming lists of the best performances and films of 2014. In the meantime, though, I'll leave a few words from my hearty recommendation of the film from Toronto, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on Wild after you see it this weekend!

Every ounce of power, honesty, humour, and insight from Strayed’s book comes intensely to life thanks to the terrifically focused screenplay by Nick Hornby (screenwriter of An Education and author himself of High Fidelity, A Long Way Down, etc.) and the kaleidoscopic vision of Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallée (Café de flore, Dallas Buyers Club). Wild is a powerful journey, a transformative one, as the film pieces Strayed’s life and story together in one solid portrait. Wild vividly realizes Strayed’s rich, clear prose every step of the way. (Read the full 5-star review here.)

Wild is now playing in Ottawa at Landmark Kanata and Silvercity Gloucester.