Reese Witherspoon undertakes a journey of mind, body and spirit in Wild, an impeccably crafted and performed tale of atonement and rebirth.

It is both curious and disappointing that Reese Witherspoon was unable to take advantage of her multi-award winning performance as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line.

Whether it be bad choices or lack of good scripts, Witherspoon has now taken the initiative to get back on the path she fell off almost a decade ago, putting on the producers hat and snapping up the rights to Cheryl Strand’s bestselling memoir “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail”.

It is both a business and artistic decision that pays off big-time for Witherspoon, who stars as Strayed in a performance that takes her way outside her comfort zone in many respects, while also playing to her many strengths.

Another smart move by Witherspoon was her hiring Jean-Marc Valle to direct Wild. Here is a filmmaker who knows how to draw out raw, transformative performances from his actors, a skill needed in the transformation of “America’s sweetheart” Witherspoon into a wreck of a woman finding redemption, and do so without any pretence.

We first meet Witherspoon as Strayed dealing with a toe-ripping injury during a colossal trek that will test her limits and transform her life. Flashback to Cheryl at the start of her journey, struggling with a travel pack that dwarves her in size as she is preparing to undergo the Pacific Crest Trail, a 1770 km (1100 miles) hike from the Mexican border to the Canadian border (on the edge of British Columbia).

Many people undertake such journeys for many different reasons. For Cheryl it is a journey of atonement and cleansing, with the many sins and self-abuses of her past plaguing her mind during long stretches of isolation, as seen in flashbacks.

Switches from present to past are a tricky thing to pull off, with the risk of distraction always high. Yet Valle and his editor Martin Pensa are masters of the craft, with their work on the undervalued Café de Flore an example of their skill at its most masterful. It’s a skill that benefits Wild immensely, for while Cheryl’s journey is about moving forward, it’s what brought her to this place that’s key.

There is the tragic loss of her good hearted mother (played fantastically by Laura Dern), the breakdown of a marriage, and addictions to heroin and sex. Witherspoon portrays all of these phases and facets in Cheryl’s life and does so with conviction, baring body and soul in the process.

The best movies that feature such stories of pilgrimage (Into the Wild, The Way) work so well because we care not only about the physical wellbeing of these characters, but their spiritual salvation as well.

Wild expertly guides us across terrain that is both ugly and beautiful, and does so with great skill and heart. Perhaps more excitingly, it introduces us to a new phase in an established actors already storied career.