Jon Krakauer’s book in hand, writer-director Sean Penn forges a story in “Into the Wild” that takes “The Graduate,” slams it into “Siddhartha,” and rolls it all down Jack Kerouac’s road.

When you start a Krakauer book—whether it be the Everest adventure “Into Thin Air” or Mormon tragedy “Under the Banner of Heaven”—you realize that you are about to embark upon an inspiring yet excruciating true-life journey that plays painful tricks on your nerves.

When you hand one of these stories to Sean Penn to adapt and direct for the big screen, the result is full exhaustion of the mind, body, and soul.

His portrayal of “Into the Wild” traces the steps of a young Christopher McCandless, who graduated from college in the 1990s, took on an ascetic lifestyle, searched for something by embracing nothing, and ventured head first into the west. There he meet fellow wanderers and explores the philosophies of heroes like Leo Tolstoy and Jack London.

The true story of “Into the Wild” explores McCandless’s infatuation with Jack London’s vision of wilderness, which he uses as a way to escape the constant annoyance of his parents and society. His journey is illuminated through the characters he meets along the way, and although his own hybrid mountain-man philosophy comes off as juvenile and preachy at times, the spiritual effect of the movie is strong.

Emile Hirsch, popularized by teen movies like “The Girl Next Door” and “Alpha Dog,” gives an amazing performance as the lead in this substantially more serious film. A dead-on match for McCandless, his persona on screen is moody enough to capture the societal angst of his character. With a bristly face and a slightly ironic tone, Hirsch might have the angry post-grad down better than Jake Gyllenhaal.

Sean Penn, directing his fifth feature film, likely used some of his celebrity muscle to pull in supporting cast members Vince Vaughn, William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Jena Malone, and Catherine Keener. Like Hirsch, most of the actors play against type. For example, Hurt portrays an abusive husband, and funny-man Vaughn is a mundane grain farmer.

Like something out of an IMAX movie, the sweeping shots of natural vistas in the film are breathtaking, heightening the rawness and cruelty of nature. The beautiful images are perfectly captured by the crisp, wandering guitar chords of Eddie Vedder, who provides the majority of the film’s music. His strained voice echoes heartily around the theater as if he were the landscape itself, calling out to the characters.

The temporal structure of the film adds to the narrative of the story, unveiling key details when they’re needed. Flashbacks, combined with the occasional voice-over by Jena Malone, who plays McCandless’ younger sister, give the film a eulogistic aura.

When you leave your seat, you might be a little more skeptical about the life you live. You might even take someone up on an adventure. If nothing else, when the Boston winter arrives, you finally might see ice and snow as an avenue for ruddy character building, rather than an inconvenience in your cushy modern life.

—Reviewer Andrew F. Nunnelly can be reached at nunnelly@fas.harvard.edu.