A Walk In The
Woods. Rated M (coarse language and sexual references). 105 minutes. Directed
by Ken Kwapis. Screenplay by Rick Kerb and Bill Holderman. Based on the book by
Bill Bryson.
When author Bill
Bryson’s (Robert Redford) disconnection from the world and the people around
him results in two very public humiliations, he decides to reconnect with
nature, and himself, by hiking the 3,500 km long Appalachian Trail.
His wife Catherine
(Emma Thompson) is convinced that the trek is too dangerous alone, so Bryson
attempts to have one of his friends come along with him. One by one they
refuse, until one of his oldest and forgotten friends, recovering alcoholic
Stephen Katz (Nick Nolte), offers to accompany him.
Nostalgia
dominates what is essentially a light-hearted stroll along a small section of
one of America’s most spectacular scenic trails. Redford, and to a lesser
extent Nolte, are cinematic royalty, and all of A Walk In The Woods’ rewards
are a result of watching these two old-timers take on not only each other, but
also Mother Nature in all her unpredictable glory.
Redford, who has
starred in classics such as The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and
All The President’s Men to name just three, seems awkwardly uncomfortable for
much of his time on screen. There is a level of self-consciousness that sits
uneasily on the surface of his performance, as though he is painfully aware
that Kwapis and cinematographer John Bailey are determined to capture, in
close-up, every intimate detail.
Nolte, though, is
simply marvellous as the gruff, big-hearted and seriously out-of-condition Katz.
The screenplay provides him with some great lines and all of the comedy, while
also providing him with the film’s dramatic highpoint – a scene on a cliff top
where he chooses, once and for all, to never touch alcohol again.
This review was
commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.
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