First off, I haven’t read the extremely well-regarded Bill Bryson novel on which the new film, A Walk in the Woods, is based. So this opinion is coming from someone going in to the movie without any preconceived notions about what to expect. Considering what played before me, it appears to be a silly buddy comedy that starts off agreeably enough, but eventually goes off track and gets a little lost. There are a few chuckles and fun individual moments, yet not enough to ultimately make it memorable.
Bill Bryson (Robert Redford) is an author who experiences an irresistible urge. He wants to hike the entire Appalachian Trail from beginning to end. When his wife (Emma Thompson) insists that he travel with a partner, Bryson tries everyone he knows but comes up empty. Luckily he finds one in old acquaintance Stephen Katz (Nick Nolte), a gruff man with a blunt nature.
There are plenty of fine gags early on. It’s enjoyable to see this very odd couple paired together – watching the two radically different personalities catch up during the walk is entertaining to witness. Redford and Nolte make for an entertaining team, although the latter has the most material to work with. Tired and out-of-shape, he gets a lot of laughs out of his character’s beet red and exhausted appearance. It’s also quite funny to hear Katz complain before the hike of his need to eat something every hour or else he’ll fall prey to shakes and seizures.
On the trek, the filmmakers also throw in some unique gags. There’s a late night conversation between the pair spoken between tents. It’s depicted using shot/reverse shots of the tents themselves, and the effect is amusing. The film also gets some mileage out of an boastful trekker (Kristen Schaal) who joins the group uninvited and proceeds to drive them mad by criticizing them. And when the pair are together, simply discussing their lives, it’s interesting to watch.
However, it’s almost as though someone involved thought that the two men on the wooded path wasn’t enough to sustain audience interest. When they stop in a small town, the movie begins to resort to obvious slapstick and the gags start falling flat. The men both meet potential female love interests, resulting in one tangent that goes absolutely nowhere, and another that ends with characters being chased by an angry spouse with a baseball bat. It’s all played in an unsubtle manner and isn’t nearly as effective.
The journey itself also comes to a rather abrupt and unsatisfying close. And we don’t get much insight into the characters themselves. There is a statement from one of the men about what was accomplished and what it all meant, but the sentiment ultimately doesn’t carry a whole lot of weight. Despite the efforts of the fine cast and the great journey depicted onscreen, the sum total of A Walk in the Woods isn’t much more than a meandering stroll with a few minor laughs.