Director John Curran, who has made a series of uneven film (“The Painted Veil,” “We Don’t Live Here Anymore,” and “Stone”) rises to the occasion of adapting Robyn Davidson’s 1980 memoir about her 1,00 mile walk across the deserts of West Australia, accompanied by her reliable dog and four unpredictable camels.
It took three decades to bring this thrilling saga to the big screen, and at one point or another, Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman were interested in playing the challenging part.
Robyn Davidson is now embodied by the very gifted Mia Wasikowska (who can be also seen this season in Cronenberg’s darker than dark Hollywood satire, “Maps to the Stars”).
Wasikowska excels a young woman who leaves her life in the city to make a solo trek in a life-changing journey that is physically and psychologically challenging but offering considerable spiritual rewards and a renewed sense of identity as a result of an intense self-discovery.
Along the way, she meets National Geographic photographer Rick Smolan (Adam Driver) who begins to photograph her voyage.
Remarkably, Robyn was not equipped with cel phone, email, GPS, and other technological appliances, just a strong will and a striking determination. Indeed, the notion of a woman confronting her fear of loneliness by pursuing solitude and proving to herself qualities and strengths she did not know she possessed is exciting to behold.
Inevitable comparison will be made between “Tracks” and “Wild,” the Reese Witherspoon Oscar-buzzed vehicle which bears strong thematic resemblance and plays all the fall film festival.
MPAA: PG-13
Running time: 110.
Directed by John Curran
Written by Marion Nelson