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After college, Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) gives all his money to charity and hits the road—not telling his parents (William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden) what he's doing—in hopes of living on his own in Alaska. The film is narrated by Chris' sister (Jena Malone) and jumps back and forth between the wanderer's time in Alaska, his adventures with the people he meets en route, and tiny snippets of his family history. Catherine Keener also stars.

Big question: Can "Into the Wild"—adapted from Jon Krakauer's non-fiction book by writer-director Sean Penn—capture the complexity and sense of escape behind this real-life loner's fearless journey?

Skip it: Mangled chronology prevents any sense of experience accumulating, time passing, perspective changing or life expanding. Chris's sister spends nearly the entire movie providing concrete explanations of how a troubled home life caused her brother to want to break away, yet the kid finishes exactly the same way he starts: bold, stubborn and single-minded.

Catch it: Be thankful that you will probably never experience what Chris calls the greatest tragedy of his life: his failure to cook and eat a moose after he kills it. Maybe “Top Chef” should do a wild game episode to offer some tips!

Bottom line: If Penn weren't such an intimidating figure, studio execs probably would have turned the script back and asked for a do-over. Other than stunning scenery, "Into the Wild" feels Hollywood-ized by the uniformly amicable people Chris meets along the way—and the stiff storytelling that denies us the pleasure of witnessing existential invigoration as it happens.

Bonus: As Chris learns from two foreigners he meets along the way, there's nothing quite like getting back to nature, going for a swim in a river and listening to MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This." Whether you're in the city or suburbs, mountains or beach, it's always Hammer Time!

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