A Walk in the Woods

Film & TV

Thursday September 03, 2015 Comments

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After having lived abroad for the last 10 years, Bill Bryson returns to America and makes up his mind to get back to his natural roots by walking the Appalachian Trail.

His wife thinks he’s crazy and leaves him articles about bear maulings and decomposing bodies of missing hikers, but she can’t deter him. Joined by his completely out-of-shape old friend, Stephen Katz, Bryson begins the journey which ultimately ends with his best-selling travel memoir A Walk in the Woods.

If ever a movie’s title reflected its tone, this would be it. A Walk in the Woods is an easy watch. The rolling layers of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains are quiet backdrops to an uncomplicated script with simple dialogue.

There’s nothing particularly exciting about this movie, unless you consider the cast. Robert Redford plays Bryson, though he’s much older than the award-winning author. His performance, too, is a serene one. Nick Nolte plays the wrecked Katz. He looks and sounds so horrible that I thought he’d annoy me within the first day of their trek, but in fact his character is entirely and surprisingly endearing. Another calm performance.

The one actor who really shines, adding a burst of energy to the film, is comedian Kristen Schaal, who plays a stray hiker along the trail. I am laughing right now just thinking about her.

The movie doesn’t stick to the book entirely. Not only is Redford strangely cast, there is also the suggestion that because of his trek with Katz, Bryson wrote his first book: A Walk in the Woods. But Bryson was already quite famous by the time he wrote the travel memoir, having published six books – two on language and four other travel memoirs. It’s a very Hollywood thing to do but it’s forgivable.

And the fact that the movie can be summed up in one somewhat boring word – “warm” – is forgivable, too. Sometimes there’s nothing wrong with warm.

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<h1>A Walk in the Woods</h1>

<address><a href="https://inreview.com.au/contributors/heather-taylor-johnson/" class="author">Heather Taylor Johnson</a></address>
											
							After having lived abroad for the last 10 years, Bill Bryson returns to America and makes up his mind to get back to his natural roots by walking the Appalachian Trail.
His wife thinks he’s crazy and leaves him articles about bear maulings and decomposing bodies of missing hikers, but she can’t deter him. Joined by his completely out-of-shape old friend, Stephen Katz, Bryson begins the journey which ultimately ends with his best-selling travel memoir A Walk in the Woods.
If ever a movie’s title reflected its tone, this would be it. A Walk in the Woods is an easy watch. The rolling layers of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains are quiet backdrops to an uncomplicated script with simple dialogue.
There’s nothing particularly exciting about this movie, unless you consider the cast. Robert Redford plays Bryson, though he’s much older than the award-winning author. His performance, too, is a serene one. Nick Nolte plays the wrecked Katz. He looks and sounds so horrible that I thought he’d annoy me within the first day of their trek, but in fact his character is entirely and surprisingly endearing. Another calm performance.
The one actor who really shines, adding a burst of energy to the film, is comedian Kristen Schaal, who plays a stray hiker along the trail. I am laughing right now just thinking about her.
The movie doesn’t stick to the book entirely. Not only is Redford strangely cast, there is also the suggestion that because of his trek with Katz, Bryson wrote his first book: A Walk in the Woods. But Bryson was already quite famous by the time he wrote the travel memoir, having published six books – two on language and four other travel memoirs. It’s a very Hollywood thing to do but it’s forgivable.
And the fact that the movie can be summed up in one somewhat boring word – “warm” – is forgivable, too. Sometimes there’s nothing wrong with warm.
 
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