I will say this about "Wild": it'll make you want to go on a hike. The cinematography of the glorious wilderness on the Pacific Crest Trail will capture your imagination. Even though this recreation of Cheryl Strayed's real-life excursion shows just how arduous, both physically and emotionally, it was for her, nature's beauty - and its curative powers - are what you'll remember. Cheryl, a senior in college when her beloved mother died, sinks into drug addiction and anonymous sex. She goes on a challenging hike, she says, to "walk myself back into the woman my mother thought I was." Both the cause of her deep anguish and her cure seem a bit pat, but star Reese Witherspoon bring Strayed to life with conviction. She makes the most of this in-turmoil character, shading Cheryl's explosions of anger and self-pity with a growing flintiness.

- KRISTINA DORSEY