Into the Wild

(Note: This review refers to the Blu-ray version of the DVD.)

Sean Penn's adaptation of Jon Krakauer's nonfiction book is a bracing cinematic plunge into the odyssey of Christopher McCandless, a middle-class kid who rechristened himself Alexander Supertramp and hit the road to an Alaskan adventure. Emile Hirsch plays McCandless with compassion and generosity and the self-involved immaturity of the young man who is convinced that he knows it all. It was an early release in the defunct HD format and debuts on Blu-ray this week, supplemented by the same short featurettes from the DVD release.