Walking Out

Twin sibling filmmakers Alex and Andrew Smith's father/son tale begins with 14-year-old David (Josh Wiggins), who lives with his divorced mother in Texas, reluctantly arriving in snowy Livingston, MT, to join his father, Cal (Matt Bomer), for an annual visit. A rugged outdoorsman/hunter, Cal is determined to share his knowledge and love of the wilderness with his iPhone-addicted son. Cal has been tracking a moose so David can score his “first kill”—a rite-of-passage that incites both edgy anticipation and fear in tongue-tied David. “Never kill anything except for food,” Cal cautions. Cal's resolve is intercut with vivid flashbacks to his own childhood, when he went hunting with his own father (the late Bill Pullman). After hiking for hours through mountainous territory, David and Cal discover that the moose they had intended to shoot was already killed by a grizzly bear, setting off a chain of events that turns this adventure into a survival saga. Adapting David Quammen's short story, Walking Out is a spare but incredibly sensitive film that is also beautifully lensed. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include deleted scenes (14 min.), and a “Made in Montana” behind-the-scenes featurette (3 min.). Bottom line: a decent extras package for a solid father/son survival drama.] (S. Granger)