Reel Critics: This ‘Wild’ thing is a winner

Reese Witherspoon takes command and control of the screen with the role of her career in “Wild.” She delivers an Oscar-worthy performance playing Cheryl Strayed, a woman who hiked a thousand miles to reach personal rebirth and redemption. The story begins with her arduous trek already underway.

But flashbacks reveal the troubled life she wants to leave behind. Cheryl hits rock bottom after her mother dies and her marriage ends. She falls into a personal abyss of hard drug use and grungy sex with strangers to support her habit.

Looking for a way out, she hits the Pacific Crest Trail in the barren Mojave Desert. She walks for over three months all the way to the lush Canadian border. Her giant backpack and true grit are her only companions at the start. Along the way she encounters unexpected animals, weather and humans. They add a mix of risk, misery and joy to her expedition.

Witherspoon brings just the right amount of strength and vulnerability to the role. She appears in almost every scene without makeup or the trappings of glamor. Laura Dern is excellent as her loving mom. Together they catapult us into the real lives of these two remarkable women.

—John Depko

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The Dark Knight proselytizes

One couldn’t necessarily call “Exodus: Gods and Kings” a failure of biblical proportions. But after only an hour of this remake of “The Ten Commandments,” this viewer was ready to take flight from an effects-laden Egypt land.

The 1956 “Commandments” was directed by Cecil B. DeMille, a master showman who gave us high camp and big stars. Ridley Scott is also a gifted director known for stunning visuals (“Alien,” “Gladiator”), but his newest film, with its blink-and-you’ll-miss famous faces, fails to spark much passion.

The good guys are boring and the bad guys smirk. Even God is portrayed as a peevish child. This does not an epic make.

The casting of Christian Bale as Moses is an odd choice — he tends to play things internally, which works in scenes of struggle with his newfound Hebrew identity. But if Moses supposes himself an inspirational leader of men, he needs to be larger than life and not just the Dark Knight of the desert.

Perhaps he needed more eyeliner, like Joel Edgerton’s Ramses. This only son of Pharaoh is conflicted by feelings of jealousy and admiration for childhood friend Moses, but is really a lazy, gum-chewing rich kid who longs for daddy’s love.

What holds our interest more than the characters are the special effects. Strangely, the flight of the slaves across the Red Sea was not as impressive as expected, perhaps because the CGI was so obvious.

But if you’re into death, plagues and pestilence, then “Exodus” is your go-to movie. I’ll bet those frogs, locusts and pustules look even more impressive in 3D.

—Susanne Perez

JOHN DEPKO is a retired senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office. He lives in Costa Mesa and works as a licensed private investigator. SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a company in Irvine.