I purposely watched A Walk in the Woods before reading the book because I rarely like a movie as much or more than the book, and the book is universally acclaimed. If The Way made me want to go on a Catholic pilgrimage in Europe-I’m Protestant, A Walk in the Woods dissuaded me from even wanting to read the autobiographical book that it was based on, forget hiking the Appalachian Trail.
A Walk in the Woods is about a notable author who has something to prove to himself and reconnects with his origins, his country and ultimately one of his oldest friends. Cue broad humor such as fat jokes, too old for this jokes, recollections of a dissolute, womanizing past with randomly interspersed PSAs about the natural world being endangered and needing to be preserved. Occasionally A Walk in the Woods remembers that it is supposed to be picturesque and obliges.
Most of the female characters are somewhat problematic: the beloved wife is a worry wart whom the main character does not even consider inviting; an annoying know-it-all fellow hiker, the oversexed passenger in a car that picks them up, the flirty wannabe adulterer in the laundromat, the temptress/innkeeper/restaurant owner. I think only the pancake waitress escapes humorous condemnation. The men don’t get better treatment: they are completely unmemorable, youthful helpers, jealous husbands or irresponsible drunk drivers.
Robert Redford makes a stab at dry humor, but misses completely and hits pedantic and aloof. Nick Nolte does some great physical acting and plays up his bulk and age, but I’ve seen him in Hateship Loveship. Nolte hasn’t gone to seed yet people-that is acting.
A Walk in the Woods is ultimately a waste of time and effort. I’m so glad that a friend discouraged me from seeing it in the theater.