Review: Wild

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★★

If you can’t handle powerful human dramas with strong performances designed to make you feel, then “Wild” won’t be for you. “Wild” is one of the most emotionally charged and powerful films I’ve seen in 2014, and certainly one of the best.

“Wild” starts Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl Strayed, a young woman setting out to hike almost every single mile of the Pacific Crest Trail despite have no prior backpacking experience. Why would she subject herself to such torture? Well, Strayed has fallen on really tough times in her life lately. Through flashbacks told along her journey, we see fragments of the events that lead her to making this decision.

We see the turbulent relationship with her ex-husband Paul (Thomas Sadoski), and the events that lead to their divorce. Her life was already in a downward spiral at that point, but the divorce sends her further into the ground. But every negative episode of Cheryl’s life is juxtaposed against happier memories, most of which include her loving mother Bobbi (Laura Dern). Outside of flashbacks, we see Cheryl struggle to complete her journey while questioning her sanity and her ability to finish.

“Wild” is a harrowing and powerful film. It’s a film that pulls a vast range of emotions from you, and it does so very fluidly. The movie goes through highs and lows, like the peaks and valleys of a wave. Cheryl’s backstory is provided entirely through flashbacks, and the events are recalled out of chronological order. Some things trigger happy memories while others recall more depressing episodes. Some of these sequences leave you laughing while others with move you in a much deeper way.

This is made possible thanks to another brilliant direction outing by Jean-Marc Vallée. Vallée directed last year’s sensational “Dallas Buyers Club” and he returns this year with another great story worthy of being told. With “Wild,” Vallée shows that he is truly a gifted filmmaker who knows how to draw just the right emotion out of his actors. When his actors are able to show those emotions so vividly, then you’ll be able to feel it in the exact same way. If they can’t showcase emotions perfectly, then how can we – the audience – be expected to believe it too.

Of course Vallée’s job is made that much easier thanks to yet another fantastic screenplay from the great Nick Hornby. The backstory is told in fragments so you never do have all the pieces of Strayed’s life at any given time. Some of the dialogue is delivered through voiceover, which I normally despise since it just comes across as lazy screenwriting. But here, Hornby has written it in such a way that it never feels like Strayed is narrating to you. And Vallée even presents the voiceover in a unique manner, so it never feels tried and overused. Hornby’s scenes and sequences are orchestrated with such care that it flows more like a good symphony than it does a typical three-act film. Every high moment is followed by a dark and low episode before swinging back up to happier scenes. This is an example of screenwriting at it’s finest. How is Hornby not being offered studio jobs?

Witherspoon is the anchor of this film. She delivers a triumphant performance that’s unlike anything she’s ever done in her career. She’s in every single scene of the film, which is no easy task for any actor to undertake. She received many accolades for her role as June Carter in “Walk the Line,” but her showing in “Wild” surpasses that miles and miles. Her performance is equal parts uplifting and devastatingly painful. Next to Witherspoon, Dern also delivers a career best performance worthy of recognition as Witherspoon’s adorable and loving mother. Their on-screen chemistry together is absolute perfection.

“Wild” is true story that’s too good not to tell. Director Vallée proves he’s a filmmaker who understands emotions, and he’s able to get the best performances from his acting ensemble each and every time. Witherspoon is also out to demonstrate that she’s not just an enormously talented actress, but also has a great eye for stories. This is the second film she’s produced this year – after “Gone Girl” – both of which feature strong female characters, something that is greatly lacking in films today. “Wild” is a profound tale of the human spirit, one filled with so many differing emotions that you’ll feel as though you walked alongside Strayed for each mile.

Review: Dallas Buyers Club

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★

“Dallas Buyers Club” is a true story that discusses how bureaucracy interferes with expediting the FDA’s drug approval process. It’s not a film built on political motivations. It doesn’t take one side or another. What it does do is personify exactly who this approval process hurts. But that’s not the only story behind “Dallas Buyers Club”. This film features two of the finest acting performances you will see in any movie this year.

Matthew McConaughey stars as Rob Woodroof, a rodeo bull rider and electrician in Dallas, TX in 1985. The AIDS epidemic is a very hot topic in the news. At that time, the vast majority of cases are coming from homosexual men. Woodruff is a womanizer so contracting AIDS is not something that’s high on his mind. He engages in unprotected sexual relations with many different women. He’s homophobic to a fault, not wanting to be anywhere near a gay man. On top of that, he’s also an alcoholic and a regular cocaine user.

An accident at work one day lands him in the hospital. A blood test reveals he has HIV. Woodroof doesn’t believe it since he’s not gay. The doctors, Dr. Sevard (Denis O’Hare) and Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner), tell him he only has 30 days left to live. Woodroof hears about a clinical trial being done in the hospital for a drug called AZT and wants in on the tests. Dr. Saks tells him he can’t be a part of the study, but Woodroof is able to get some drugs anyway thanks to an orderly. He takes the drugs in high doses thinking that will kill the virus, but it’s very toxic at that level which almost kills him.

At the suggestion of the orderly, Woodroof travels to Mexico where a doctor gets him off the AZT and starts him on some more non-toxic drugs and proteins to help treat his illness. Woodroof can’t believe that these drugs aren’t available in the United States, but the FDA won’t allow them. Woodroof wants to buy up a lot of the medication and bring it back to the US in order to sell. With the help of a transvestite with AIDS he met in the hospital named Rayon (Jared Leto), Woodroof opens up what’s called a “buyers club” where they give the drugs away for free as long as they pay a $400 a month membership.

“Dallas Buyers Club” is a film built on a story foundation that can be seen in just about every movie you watch. That doesn’t make it unoriginal, it just means it’s following a formula that’s proven and works. Screenwriters Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack haven’t broken any new ground here, but their script is very solid. There’s nothing in here that shouldn’t be, the dialogue is well written and it’s well paced. There’s just no new ground being broken here.

Director Jean-Marc Vallée has a good grasp on the subject matter here and seems to understand what the focal point of this film needs to be. The movie is a critique on the FDA’s approval methods and how a pharmaceutical company can influence what drugs get to the market first. “Dallas Buyers Club” has outstanding performances, but those don’t need any additional attention. Vallée allows his actors to shine all on their own while keeping his attention turned on getting the subject matter to the forefront. He is successful in this regard.

While the subject matter is very important, the movie is also a showcase of great performances. Both McConaughey and Leto are entrancing on screen together. Both are virtually unrecognizable in their roles. The each lost an enormous amount of weight in order to play these parts. McConaughey sports a hairstyle that rivals that of Javier Bardem’s mop in “No Country For Old Men” while Leto does the entire role in heavy makeup and women’s clothes.

Their roles are written to be completely different from one another. McConaughey’s Woodroof is homophobic who continually throws out slurs to slander people like Leto’s Rayon. There’s no reason for these two would ever have been friends under any normal circumstance. They need each other in order to prolong their lives and to make money off of other people’s issues too.

Leto is a revelation in this role. He doesn’t do a whole lot of movies recently as he prefers to spend more time with his band. As an actor, he’s never been someone I ever thought was a stunningly good. He was great in “Requiem for a Dream” but he hasn’t done much since then. And then he reappears out of nowhere after taking a break from acting for four year with a role like this. His role in “Dallas Buyers Club” is humorous, heartbreaking and everything in between. He works great alongside McConaughey.

As for McConaughey, he’s never been better. He’s already shown his true acting potential with “Mud” earlier this year, but carries it even further with his role as Woodroof. Not only does he completely embody this character in every aspect of his performance, he’s also physically transformed to look more like the real Ron Woodroof. McConaughey shed his usual rugged good looks in favor of a skinny, gaunt and sickly apperance. There are many times when watching him that I forgot it was McConaughey in that role. This is the best performance of his career and one of the year’s best performances all around.

“Dallas Buyers Club” sheds some light on the backwards inner-workings of the FDA and how much government bureaucracy interferes with treating sick people. It doesn’t make any kind of political stances even though it does vilify the government agency to an extent. It’s really well made and quite entertainment even though it really brings nothing new to the cinematic table. McConaughey and Leto’s performances are the best reasons to check this one out. I can’t say it enough: they are absolutely sensational.