Jungle

"It will be fun", they said.  "Lets have an adventure", they said.  "Cancel your plane tickets", they said.  Now look!  I am trapped in the God Damn Amazon Jungle!!!  This is a true hidden gem, and absolutely one of the most underrated movies of last year.  I barely heard anything about it, and the critics weren't all that generous with the film but I thought is was amazing!  I am not a huge Radcliffe fan other than this and "Horns".  He usually is just a grown up version of Harry Potter, but he really shines in this picture having some seriously terrifying moments of being isolated in the jungle.  He plays Yossi Ghinsberg, author of the book in which this story is based.   The story is three friends back-packing in South America find a shady guide who will take them on a true adventure off the beaten path and in to the actual jungle, no tourist crap.  They are reluctant at first and succumb as the sales pitch is just to overwhelming.  They experience first hand the depths and dangers of the jungle only to be separated and having to find for themselves.  There is some great cinematography, unbelievable situations, and gruesome truths as to what would happen after weeks in the trenches.  The best part is, this is a true story!  Definitely give this a shot, it is worth it and will make you think twice about traveling off the beaten path (in the jungle).

FYI:   It would have been impossible for McLean to condense all of Ghinsberg's trials into one movie, which unfortunately left out:

• When Ghinsberg woke up covered in leeches.
• When Ghinsberg slipped down a slope and impaled his rectum on a broken stick.
• When Ghinsberg woke up to find a swarm of termites eating patches of his skin where he'd urinated on himself.

*****