I can't even tell you why, but I will try. I wanted to like this but sadly for me could not. I felt that the movie was about loss, and flashback after flashback denoting the same. Guess what, that is life, loss. So she hikes, end of story. Did I miss something? Do I not know a good movie anymore? This was a total letdown. So I must stand alone chastising, this poor flick.
shareIt was a big disappointment. The trailers looked exciting, but in the end, it was nothing more than a self help book adapted for film. So what?
shareI found it to be an unpleasant film about an unpleasant woman who came out of several unpleasant situations, puts herself into more unpleasant situations, then finds some redemption in the closing narration.
I don't mind all the unpleasantness – life is like that for many people, if not most of them – but beyond the beautiful cinematography and a few decent performances, I didn't find much to care about here in terms of storytelling or character development. 6/10 stars from me based on effort.
I feel moved to report that that closing narration was what undid the movie for me. It seemed to come out of the blue as there didn't seem to be a lot preceeding that paralleled that. There was narration, but the words at the end were at least twice, maybe three times as long as any foregoing. I felt they were a lazy way to tie everything up. I think I might have been happier if they had found some way to end the film without those, which might have been pretty self-evident. And who much cares that Cheryl ended up married with children? Perhaps it was significant but I wonder if that might have been more effectively accomplished with some of those titles they often put at the end to let you know where everyone is now.
Otherwise, I was touched by the children's desperation at having lost their mother, and saw the walk as a way for the central character to punish, cathart and cleanse herself. It seemed that everyone on the trail was doing that, well, except for the people traveling in groups for summer fun like those three guys. Not everybody was there for the same reason but probably everyone had something to work out, even didn't care if they died and were putting fate to the test. But I really didn't like that closing narration and I think they could even recut the film and leave much or all of it out. Glad you brought that up.
The closing narration is indeed very jarring, especially in keeping with the tone of the rest if the film. I have to say I was put off by the downbeat tone of it. I knew that her life before the hike had been very difficult, but I was hoping for some sign that the hike was producing a change in her outlook and disposition. I didn't see it at all, which is why the narration struck me as false.
shareI found it to be an unpleasant film about an unpleasant woman who came out of several unpleasant situations, puts herself into more unpleasant situations, then finds some redemption in the closing narration.
I don't mind all the unpleasantness – life is like that for many people, if not most of them – but beyond the beautiful cinematography and a few decent performances, I didn't find much to care about here in terms of storytelling or character development. 6/10 stars from me based on effort.
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So true. Laura Dern was my main reason for seeing this, and I was very disappointed by how little her character was developed here. I never saw that strong a bond between mother and daughter, so it's hard to imagine her death would have caused such torment. As for the hair, I assume they want to make her look "sickly," but they could have done that better by giving her more and better lines.
shareThe flashback structure becomes a bit annoying, but the encounters she has on her journey were interesting and believable. It's far better than The Theory of Everything and Foxcatcher I was glad I didn't waste time and money seeing them in a theater.
shareI spent about five minutes on The Theory of Everything before bailing ... HBOgo or Netflix so didn't lose money either. It seems like so many Academy Award contenders are pablum and truly good films are hard to find. I'll have to check out Foxcatcher. Don't think have ever heard of it.
I did like this one all right and I think it will stay with me for a while though when it ended I didn't feel as if she had experienced all that much on the trail.
I did watch Foxcatcher, and hated it. For the same reason you expressed.
shareI was disappointed in the film.Me too. The movie was not well made. share
I agree.
I would've been happier if they'd fleshed out Cheryl's backstory more a little bit more.
It would've given the walk through the wild storyline more continuity.
For instance, when & how did she become heroin-addicted?
Did she start to whore herself out to support the habit?
It seemed so, but they didn't make it clear.
I assume it was her Mother's untimely death that set her off, but they didn't really make that plain in the movie (seemed that they were occurring at the same time).
Also, how she met her ex-husband would've been nice to see too. The movie seemed a bit self-serving to me, I suppose if you'd read the book you could've kept up with events better, but I haven't read her book, so I was playing guessing games all throughout the film.
The book answers most of those questions. They've really cut out a lot (like half of the dialogues, some characters and a lot of backstory). Maybe a mini tv-series would have been better. I felt 2 hours was too short to tell everything, everything felt rushed. Also: the street-scene where she had sex with those men was not in the book.
shareI agree.
I would've been happier if they'd fleshed out Cheryl's backstory more a little bit more.
It would've given the walk through the wild storyline more continuity.
For instance, when & how did she become heroin-addicted?
Did she start to whore herself out to support the habit?
It seemed so, but they didn't make it clear.
I assume it was her Mother's untimely death that set her off, but they didn't really make that plain in the movie (seemed that they were ocurring at the same time).
Also, how she met her ex-husband would've been nice to see too. The movie seemed a bit self-serving to me, I suppose if you'd read the book you could've kept up with events better, but I haven't read her book, so I was playing guessing games all throughout the film.
I enjoyed the movie.
To me, you are not one hundred percent correct "I felt that the movie was about loss..." but you are in the ball park. I think the movie and the book is about how she handled the loss.
I will say that I did enjoy the book better than the movie. The movie was good but the book is better.
I do agree that books are more often better that the movie. I never read this book so I was left with the movie, which for was disappointing. You however liked the movie, and that is what makes a market. Thanks for your response.
shareI appreciate the fact that the responses to your thread have mostly been very civil, which is a refreshing change of pace on these boards. We are on the same page with our feelings about this film.
It's OK when others like films I dislike, or dislike films I like, but the anger and name-calling on these boards is depressing. Thankfully, I don't see it here.
I'm not sure how I feel about this film. It put me in a downer of a mood that's for sure. I did however enjoy hearing Simon & Garfunkel's El Condor Pasa (If I Could) randomly throughout it!
CoffeeSnob :)