Three stars. Rated R, for profanity
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 9.4.15
It’s easy to understand why the
outdoors-y Robert Redford would be drawn to travel author Bill Bryson’s delightful
1998 account of his less-than-illustrious attempt to walk the famed Appalachian
Trail ... all 2,200 miles of it, stretching from Georgia’s Springer Mountain to
Maine’s Mount Katahdin.
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| After a particularly difficult day, Bryson (Robert Redford, right) and his good friend Katz (Nick Nolte) take shelter in a small hut, only to discover — thanks to a scale map of the entire Appalachian Trail — that they've made far less progress than expected. |
The resulting film, gestating
since Redford acquired the adaptation rights in 2005, is amiable enough, if
superficial: a gentle account of two codgers impulsively deciding to tackle
this hiking challenge, and the reality check that almost immediately dimmed —
but didn’t quite extinguish — their ambition.
Rather too gentle, alas.
This big-screen Walk in the
Woods is disappointing on several levels, most notably because we’ve lost the
book’s primary asset: Bryson’s wonderfully wicked, sharply perceptive sense of
humor. I usually decry movies that rely on voice-over narration as a crutch,
but this one begs for just that touch. (Recall how much Jean Shepherd’s
off-camera commentary helped 1983’s A Christmas Story.)
Bryson’s rich voice is wholly
absent here, and that’s not merely disappointing; it calls this film’s very
existence into question.
Not only that, but Redford’s take
on Bryson is all wrong. Redford makes the writer laconic and reflective: a man
who keeps close counsel, rarely initiates conversation, and responds briefly,
if at all. That’s an apt definition of Redford’s longtime screen persona, as
opposed to the quick wit, thoughtful ripostes and sharply descriptive
commentary that have characterized Bryson for years.
The second major issue is one of
actor hubris. Redford may have been one of the best-preserved 79-year-olds on the
planet, when he shot this film, but one cannot ignore the physical limitations
that nature imposes with maturity. At 74, co-star Nick Nolte looks 90 (which,
yes, is intentional ... to a point).
Age, by itself, certainly is no
impediment to endeavors that require stamina and physical competence. Age plus
an absolute lack of preparation, however, is an entirely different matter. As
depicted here, Bryson’s decision to embark on this expedition — rightly
recognized as bonkers by his wife, Catherine (a radiant Emma Thompson) — is a
visceral reaction to the death of a friend. A sudden need to prove something.
But the real Bryson was 44 when
he began his equally mad journey on March 9, 1996. We can assume that his
companion — played here by Nolte — was of a similar age. Let’s just say that
ill-prepared fortysomethings are far more credible, under subsequent
circumstances, than ill-prepared seventysomethings.
Based on the way Nolte’s
red-faced, overweight character huffs and puffs his way through the initial
modest climb, he’d have stroked out before the sun set on their first day.
