Ah Wilderness!: A slice of life that feels weirdly lived-in

Should you watch this?

If you like movies that feel like a dusty, warm photograph, then yes. This is for the people who don't mind a story that takes its sweet time getting nowhere. If you need explosions or a tight plot, you will probably be bored to tears within twenty minutes. It is a slow burn, but not the kind critics usually praise for being 'deliberate'—it just likes to hang out.

Mickey Rooney is all over this thing. He plays the teenager, Richard, with this desperate, wide-eyed intensity that feels like he’s trying to swallow the whole world at once. Sometimes it’s a bit much, honestly. You can see him trying so hard to be the tortured poet that you almost want to reach into the screen and tell him to just take a breath.

There is this one scene where he’s reciting Swinburne to his girl, and the way his voice cracks? It is genuinely painful. Not in a bad way. It just hits that specific note of adolescent embarrassment that we all try to forget. Most movies make teenage romance look like a soap commercial. This one makes it look like a sweaty, awkward, confusing mess. Which is how it actually feels.

Wallace Beery shows up as the uncle who likes his liquor a little too much, and he’s clearly having a blast. He doesn't really move the plot forward, but who cares? He brings this weird, wobbling energy to the dinner table scenes that makes the whole house feel alive. It’s like watching an uncle at a holiday party who you know is going to say something slightly inappropriate in about ten minutes.

The pacing is… well, it’s not great. The movie stops for long stretches to just let people talk about nothing in particular. Sometimes it works, like when the family is bickering over dinner. Other times, I found myself checking how much time was left. It lacks the punchy, tight editing of Number 17, but then again, they aren't trying to be the same kind of movie.

There is a lot of 'gee whiz' nostalgia baked into the sets, but it doesn't feel entirely fake. The porch scenes at night have this weird, muffled sound quality. It makes it feel like you are spying on neighbors from across the street. I appreciated that. It didn't feel like a studio set for a second.

I caught myself thinking about how much easier life must have seemed back then. Then I remembered the kid is having an existential crisis because a girl didn't reply to his letter. Some things never change, I guess. It’s not a masterpiece, and it’s not going to change your life. It’s just a nice, slightly messy movie about a kid trying to figure out if he’s a genius or just a fool. We’ve all been there. 🏠