[yasr_overall_rating]
After spending two decades in England, Bill Bryson returns to the U.S., where he decides the best way to connect with his homeland is to hike the Appalachian Trail with one of his oldest friends.
“A Walk in the Woods” is a comedy very definitely playing for the middle aged to senior demographic, but is easily appreciated by everyone in the theater. The story, taken from Bill Bryson’s 1998 book, follows two old friends trying to hike all 2,000 – plus miles of the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine.
It might seem at first that Bryson (Robert Redford) and Kratz (Nick Nolte) are plodding through a hokey buddy comedy, the likes of which are trotted out every now and then for older moviegoers. But Redford and Nolte are a class or two above the standard stars of such fair. So I don’t mind too terribly that “A Walk in the Woods” falls into the grumpy old men cliché. The brilliant talent of both lead actors is what pulls this movie off.
The germ for the trip begins when Bryson returns to his New Hampshire home after a humbling book tour where he’s met with questions of retirement — likely the same kind Redford has become accustomed to fielding but happily (for our sake) ignoring. “Authors,” Bryson responds, “don’t retire. They either drink themselves away or blow their brains out.”
Bryson is instead drawn by a mysterious longing to hike the Appalachian Trail. His concerned wife (Emma Thompson — now there’s a couple) insists he find a companion. When everyone he can think of turns him down, a long ago estranged friend, Katz, calls him up to say he’s game.
After the two set out in Georgia, their adventures unfold in episodic encounters and pratfalls. Along the way, they meet Mary Ellen (Kristen Schaal as an annoying fellow hiker), attractive innkeeper Jeannie (Mary Steenburgen) and, inevitably, bears.
I kept feeling like I was at a cocktail party with hors d’oeuvres, when I really wanted to be at a steak dinner party. There were lots of funny bits and comic situations to snack on, but very little meat and potatoes to let us see who these two men really were. The occasional scratching of the surface happens when Katz expresses his awe at how Bryson’s life had all fallen into place, and when he confides in Bryson how lonely his life has become after sobriety.
As the story unwinds itself and we follow our travelers further down the trail, I found myself wondering just how old Redford and Nolte are, and what age the characters they were playing were written. As it turns out, the two men in the book were in their 40’s. Redford is almost 80 and Nolte is 74. Although both actors play the parts as being much younger than their real age, it is occasionally hard to suspend belief.
Even harder to swallow is the lack of facial hair that Redford sports throughout the movie. His hair bothers me all the way around actually. Bryson and Katz would spend nights at hotels and campsites with lodges and bunkhouses along their trek, but there were also large spans of time that they would have been sleeping in their tents. Redford never has any facial hair, and his perfectly quaffed head never gets ragged or shaggy. Seriously, how many barber shops are there on the Appalachian Trail? I guess the production team couldn’t afford more than one toupee for Redford.
With summer quickly sliding out of sight, and the approaching busy school semester looming ahead of me, numerous teacher, Girl Scout and PTA meetings to attend are close on the horizon. “A Walk in the Woods” was a happy and pleasant way to bid farewell to a great summer of movies.
In select theaters September 2nd
