Into The Wild Reviews

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-Team Kristen

Posting the entire article for this one, it's too good...

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January 06, 2008

Although it’s not the type of showy performance or role likely to nab any major kudos, or maybe even a spot among the more diverse field found at Stinkylulu’s 2nd Annual Supporting Actress Blogathon, the quiet, lovely work of young Kristen Stewart in Into the Wild left possibly the most indelible mark of any 2007 supporting actress I viewed. Although Stewart is subdued throughout her brief appearance as Tracy, a free-spirited, yet melancholy, sixteen-year-old who catches the eye of Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsh) midway through his series of exploits across American, she leaves a vivid impression on both McCandless and the viewer. First spotted singing to a crowd in the purest, sweetest voice imaginable, the dreamy, serene Tracy is mainly around to provide a brief romantic interlude for Wild’s wandering hero. However, Stewart’s soulful, intelligent eyes, graceful sensitivity, and phenomenal, ethereal screen presence make Tracy a figure hard to forget after McCandless moves on to his next, and biggest, adventure.

The camera loves Stewart to such a degree that, after her first few Wild scenes, I started suspecting she probably could have given Lillian Gish or Greta Garbo a run for their money during the Silent’s heyday some eighty-odd years ago as, to misquote Norma Desmond, “They had faces then.” As Tracy, Stewart’s beautiful, unguarded visage manages to convey both freshness and world-weariness, allowing the talented newcomer to project something akin to a jaded purity, which I’ve never seen onscreen before. I was surprised to find out Stewart was actually the same age as her character- the adage “wise beyond her years” could have been coined for her, as the mature comportment Stewart displays throughout her Wild appearance is rare to find in an ingenue.


Stewart’s possesses an insightful, focused, and naturalistic acting style, and she brings off Tracy so effortlessly a viewer might simply overlook her substantial accomplishment in Wild. Stewart is always fully “in the moment” as Tracy, to the extent an audience can be forgiven for assuming director Sean Penn simply cast a non-professional, then improvised her scenes in a semi-documentary style. Stewart’s abundant acting prowess is evident in what (for me) constitutes the film’s most perfect moment, wherein Tracy interrupts a serious exchange between McCandless and fellow nomad Jan (Catherine Keener, in an earthy, warm performance) and lets out a slight, nervous laugh while informing the couple dinner is ready, before she quickly departs the scene. Stewart plays Tracy’s reaction to her unwitting intrusion upon Christopher and Jan’s private discussion very skillfully; the giddy quaver found in Stewart’s voice may not have been scripted, but it’s exactly how the alert, sage Tracy should react after unexpectedly discovering her normally laid-back friends involved in such a solemn conversation. The wounded look in Stewart’s eyes during Tracy’s sad, gentle, and mainly wordless goodbye to McCandless also lends a remarkable degree of depth to her characterization, leaving one to ponder what road Tracy traveled in life after Christopher embarked on his own final journey.

Although Stewart’s been around for a few years since her big breakthrough as Jodie Foster’s offspring in Panic Room, I’d never seen her in any role before her delicate, penetrating portrayal in Wild, and I left the screening wanting to view more, a lot more, of her work. The sometimes perverse fortunes found in the world of cinema makes it hard to determine how things will play out for Stewart; however, adorned with uncommon beauty and perceptive acting skill, Wild’s breathtaking young star should have a bright future as a major film performer.

Source

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At first, the almost random nature of the narrative is distracting, but eventually it becomes seductive, transforming the viewer into a fellow nomad. It helps that the people McCandless meets are not only interesting but played by such actors as Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener and Kristen Stewart, whose duet with Hirsch during a hippy-camp performance of John Prine's "Angel From Montgomery" is heartbreaking.

Penn isn't above a corny "king of the world" type shot of McCandless atop a mountain, arms outstretched, the camera swirling around him like a tetherball. But although the scenery throughout the film is spectacular, it's not photographed romantically, as in a Terrence Malick film. Instead, these canyons, rivers, deserts, wheat fields and forests appear much as they would in a documentary film; their topography is no more fascinating than that of the faces McCandless encounters. We realize that the people whose company McCandless plans to shun are themselves part of the natural world -- a realization that comes too late for the film's holy fool of a hero.

Source: The Commercial Appeal

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... Kristen Stewart (“Zathura”) plays Tracy, the hottest jailbait I've seen in years.

The movie has two strong suits. The first is the acting, which is superb by everyone, especially Emile Hirsch, who is a real revelation here.

Source: Lariet

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... Romance is in the air between McCandless and one of the teenaged locals (Kristen Stewart, doing vividly well with a sketch of a role) but the young man does not make room in his life for sensual pleasure.

Source: Chicago Tribune

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In a hippie trailer town, he also meets up with a very young singer-songwriter (played by Kristen Stewart, in a sturdy, sensitive performance) who offers herself freely...

Source: Salon.com

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Funny guy Vince Vaughn shows up as the owner of a farm that hires on McCandless to harvest grain. This one’s more of a dramatic turn and Vaughn’s terrific in the part, as are Catherine Keener and Kristen Stewart who play fellow travelers living off the grid.

Source: About.com

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Impressively directed, beautifully written and superbly acted, this is a genuinely uplifting tale (despite its sobering conclusion) with spectacular photography throughout.

The supporting cast are equally superb, particularly Keener and Dierker, while Kristen Stewart shines as Tracy (their duet for an audience of hippies is one of many highlights). Similarly, William Hurt has a short moment towards the end of the film that is delivered without dialogue and is utterly heart-breaking.

Into the Wild is a thoroughly engaging, superbly directed film about a remarkable young man, with an Oscar-worthy performance from Emile Hirsch. Highly recommended.

Source: View London

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... its nice to see Kristen Stewart (so good in The Cake Eaters) bring her particularly believable brand of vulnerability to a role as the teen of a hippy family.

Source: Eye For Film

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Kristen Stewart trembles believably with the thrum of first love when she meets Chris, who has little time for the love she offers.

Source: Week In Rewind

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showing the sweet kid as a "holy fool" who can attract a 16-year-old folk singing sweetie pie (Kristen Stewart) to willingly give him some tail that he respectfully declines because she's underage and he has only room in his head for living in purity in a barren Alaska without money.

Source: Ozus' World

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Supporting work from Catherine Keener (2005's "Capote"), as the motherly Jan; Marcia Gay Harden (2007's "The Invisible") and William Hurt (2007's "Mr. Brooks"), as Chris' flawed and grief-stricken parents; Jena Malone (2004's "Saved!"), as sister Carine, and Kristen Stewart (2007's "In the Land of Women"), as the flirtatious Tracy, is powerful.

Source: The Movie Boy

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Tracy (Kristen Stewart), a teenage girl who develops a deep-seeded crush on Christopher’s glamorous view of rugged individualism...

There is not a single performance that isn’t dead-on in Into the Wild, not a line of dialogue that isn’t in its place. This is that rare motion picture that feels as though it’s unfolding as one watches it, rather than merely taking up time. Every single one of its 148 minutes is well-earned. Is the film a masterpiece? After seeing it twice, I am close to being inclined to think so. While I have my gripes about a few of the more experimental techniques used by Penn—his choice to allow Hirsch to look directly at the audience on two separate occasions creates an iffy result at best—they seem inconsequential in retrospect. When I consider the life that Into the Wild allowed me to feel as I watched it, I come to realize that the film’s technical imperfections only work to further the flawed humanism that it wishes to convey in Christopher’s character. This is a wonderful, wonderful motion picture.

Source: Bucket Review

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Kristen Stewart (Panic Room) plays Tracy, the teenage daughter of ramblers who encounter Alex on the road. She is all legs and eyes and burgeoning sexuality

Tracy spends most of her time lounging around in very short shorts, but she also plays guitar and sings. Her duet with Alex of "Angel From Montgomery" is sweet and sad. She reminded me a little of Evan Rachel Wood, only more dangerous — all instinct and feral innocence.

...but Keener and Stewart are more than satisfying. I might even be persuaded to grab a backpack and become a leather tramp if they were my meandering companions. (And that's really saying something, because I'm an indoorsy kind of gal.)

Source: After Ellen

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... Into the Wild has a crazy integrity—Penn believes. The actor in him understands what McCandless in his journal calls “the climactic battle to kill the false being within.” Kristen Stewart plays a leggy 16-year-old in a giant nomadic flea market with a whopping crush on the handsome visitor: Her longing for him—and the liberation he represents—is incredibly vivid.

BACKSTORY
Chris McCandless’s parents initially rejected the requests of Sean Penn and others to obtain the rights to their son’s story. Billie had a dream about her son that she took as a sign the movie should not be made. “I was willing to take no for an answer” was Penn’s Zenlike response, which paid off—ten years after Jon Krakauer’s book, they reconsidered and went straight to the director, who shelved his initial casting plan (Leonardo DiCaprio as Chris). “Ultimately, there is something very selfless about their decision to do it,” Penn told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s one thing to lose a son. It’s another thing to hold yourself accountable to being a part of that.”

Source: New York Magazine