James Canellos ‘17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer Mia Wasikowska and Adam Driver in Tracks. Photo Credit: The Weinstein Company.
In 1977, Star Wars first premiered and Rocky won the Academy Award for Best Picture. In terms of pop culture, it felt fitting that Robyn Davidson should defy the odds and go on a journey far, far away in the deserts of Australia. Mia Wasikowska is the actress leaving behind a trail for all actresses of her generation with an excellent, nearly stand-alone performance as the real-life Davidson. John Curran’s film tracks (no pun intended) Davidson’s journey from learning how to prepare for the hike of a lifetime through every buzzing fly along the way. Davidson is determined to walk over 1,700 miles with only four camels, her loyal dog Diggity (Special Agent Gibbs) and as many supplies as they could carry. The adventurer tries to make isolation her best friend; she simply enjoys the company of her dog and nobody else. In a scene that’s excellently sound mixed, Robyn is surrounded by two friends and a handful of acquaintances while she’s trying to obtain funding for her journey. The noises of a conversation between these people she barely knows make isolation in the desert seem delightful. Adam Driver in Tracks. Photo Credit: The Weinstein Company.
One of the said acquaintances, Rick, (Adam Driver) a photographer for National Geographic, begins to follow her during the trek because his employers begin to fund her expedition. From the get go, Rick is the reincarnation of the flies that buzz around his head every five seconds, he’s all over Robyn whether she likes it or not. Driver excels at playing confident, slightly strange gentlemen as shown in his hit show Girls. Tracks, however, gives him the opportunity to stretch his long legs and portray someone whose annoyance nearly overshadows his good nature, which can be very tricky to pull off. Unlike his performance, Driver’s ambition to impress doesn’t lead to arrogance, instead he becomes just as intriguing as Wasikowska who reaches new heights here.
Wasikowska has always been a good actress and nearly carries the movie on her back just as her camels carry all her necessities. So empowered by seclusion, she is desperate to know what it’s like to reach out and have a connection. Despite her lack of eye contact with other human beings, the expression and depth she gives the audience with a glance is more then enough to keep her from becoming a boring lead. Mia Wasikowska in Tracks. Photo Credit: The Weinstein Company.
Like so many survival stories, this film does begin to lag. Eventually her day to day events feel as repetitive as walking the trail along with Davidson. Even flashbacks of her youth that feel out of place in this picture don’t help to move things along. It seems like there’s going to be a psychological reason as to why she’s so motivated to do things, but instead some parts end up feeling like a waste of time. The flashbacks don’t add the amount of context to Davidson’s character as Curran probably initially wanted.
What doesn’t disappoint is Mandy Walker’s sweeping cinematography, but with such a beautiful landscape and scenery it’s hard to go wrong in the first place. The vast desert is captured as an epic backdrop to Wasikowska’s tanning and freckled skin. It takes a trailblazing actress to inspire women explorers on this harrowing, but at times dragging journey. Overall Grade: B
