A WALK IN THE WOODS (2015)
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2016 David N. Butterworth

*1/2 (out of ****)

Humorist Bill Bryson's beloved travel guide about his experiences hiking
the 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail, "A Walk in the Woods," has been turned
into a flat-footed farce featuring Robert Redford as Bryson and Nick Nolte
as his curmudgeonly companion, Stephen Katz. Who thought this was a good
idea, exactly? Adapting the popular book might have made sense, but why
recast the burly, middle-aged journalist as a lean, octogenarian pretty
boy? Ironically, Nolte looks distinctly more like an older version of
Bryson than Redford does, but presumably his star power wasn't considered significant enough to carry the film. As for the translation itself,
Bryson's 1998 bestseller is whimsical and poignant and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, but it's also corny and obvious in a lot of places.
For some reason, the filmmakers responsible for this big screen version, director Ken Kwapis ("He's Just Not That Into You") and screenwriters
William Holderman and Rick Kerb, have focused on the corny and obvious
parts, blowing them up out of all proportion while simultaneously
eliminating all subtleties and nuances from the original. Bear jokes, poop jokes, bear poop jokes--it's an embarrassment for all concerned. Well,
perhaps not for Emma Thompson, who plays Bryson's dutiful wife Catherine
and does the sensible thing by staying in New Hampshire. She's a breath of fresh air in a travel odyssey that, given the greatness of its outdoors,
should have featured almost nothing but. Instead, all we get is steaming lungfuls of something else.

--
David N. Butterworth
rec.arts.movies.reviews
butterworthdavidn@gmail.com

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