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There is only one question that you need to ask yourself before deciding to see “A Walk in the Woods”: Can you justify sitting through an utterly predictable and rather tame man vs. nature ramble in order to enjoy the affable odd-couple chemistry shared by Robert Redford and Nick Nolte ?

Certainly, it is hard to resist a rare opportunity to observe these seasoned septuagenarians go at it with gusto, especially considering that the only other time Redford and Nolte have been cast mates was in the barely-seen 2013 political thriller “ The Company You Keep .” Nowadays, the handsomely rough-hewn star of “North Dallas Forty” looks more like a ruddy-faced Yeti while the still-fit Sundance Kid is paying the price for all that ultraviolet glare on the ski slopes. But these guys still know how to not just hold our attention but grab it, even if their current film needs them more than they need it.

Redford, who is also a producer, initially planned on reteaming with buddy Paul Newman a decade or so ago when he began to piece together this project based on Bill Bryson ’s humor-filled 1998 account of his misadventures while hiking the 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail. A reunion with his sparring partner in “ Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ” and “ The Sting ,” halted by Newman’s death in 2008, would have been a must-see event. But the ever-volatile and gravel-voiced Nolte and the perennially cool and smooth-talking Redford manage just fine as a bracing pair of fellow travelers.

The feminist in me initially planned to bash “A Walk in the Woods,“ directed in typical middle-of-the-road fashion by Ken Kwapis (“He’s Just Not That Into You”) with an unfortunate insistence on telegraphing almost every laugh. On what grounds? That both leads are at least 30 years too old for their roles since Bryson and his estranged reprobate pal, Stephen Katz , are 44 in the book.

Would Hollywood have allowed, say, Shirley MacLaine and Debbie Reynolds to headline “Bridemaids”? But then I recalled that Reese Witherspoon in last year’s “ Wild ” was more than 10 years older than the real Cheryl Strayed , who was 26 when she traversed the Pacific Crest Trail. Besides, genuine star power knows no expiration date and, without these esteemed seniors as a main attraction,“A Walk in the Woods” might have been unwatchable.

Whereas a solo Witherspoon in her Oscar-nominated role struggled with her inner demons as much as she did the elements, “A Walk in the Woods” is more about two unlikely acquaintances crossing paths again after a long-ago falling out caused their relationship to go astray. Redford’s wry Bryson, a popular writer of travelogues who is tired of resting on his considerable laurels while spending too much time writing forewords for other people’s books, is in a funk after attending a funeral. That is when he spies a marker for the Georgia-to-Maine trail near his New Hampshire home.

Against the wishes of his sensible British wife of 40 years ( Emma Thompson , under-used as a radiator of warmth), he decides on a whim to attempt this marathon test of endurance and picks Katz to join him – primarily because none of his other friends are crazy enough to say yes. Katz, based in Bryson’s native Iowa, claims that the fact that he has several outstanding warrants against him is the reason he has volunteered to huff and puff over hill and dale. But when this recovering alcoholic and unrepentant womanizer admires the tributes and accomplishments piled up in his Bryce’s den, it is clear Katz desires some sort of reconnection as well.

Considering that Nolte’s wheezy scalawag can barely stumble out of a small plane, matters move a tad slowly at first but eventually pick up. Bryson might be a thinker and Katz a talker, but unlike “Wild,” there are few deep revelations or bouts of philosophizing along the way. Instead, amusing incidents, encounters and mishaps pile up as the companions fill in the blanks of their personal histories. Be forewarned: There is an R-rated abundance of salty language, what with Bryson prone to expressing what a bear does in the woods and Katz’s committed embrace of the F-word, as well as non-explicit frisky business implied.

Occasionally, Kwapis slips in a shot of scenic splendor as a reminder of where we are. Bears put in a cameo along the way, as well as other such other natural hazards as rain, snow, mud and slippery slopes. Then there are annoyances of the human variety. Kristen Schaal is in her comedy comfort zone as a pushy chatterbox hiker who likes to flaunt her superior knowledge of three-season tents as she attempts to tag along with Bryce and Katz. Her appearance conveniently acts a bonding agent for the men as they conspire to ditch her.

Despite excusing the age discrepancy issue, I still recoiled now and then at how every female onscreen exists to simply serve the needs of the central male characters. I guess it makes sense that Nolte’s Katz has a Neanderthal’s notion of women, as revealed in his speech about the romantic options of an ugly sister, with being slutty as No. 1. An inveterate chubby chaser, his need to crack suggestive pancake remarks to a plus-size waitress is topped by his laundromat encounter over a pair of pink panties snagged in a washer with a local who he describes as “a beautiful body buried under 200 pounds of fat.” Meanwhile, Redford’s Bryce shares a flirtatious pas de deux with Mary Steenburgen ’s roadside motel proprietress but does not stray, much to Katz’s horndog chagrin.

One wonders what might have been if Newman were still around. Oddly enough, there is a scene that briefly summons memories of Butch and Sundance when the guys are trapped on a ledge and peer over a harrowing incline to see a body of water below. I kept hoping they would jump in together. But it was not to be.

Susan Wloszczyna

Susan Wloszczyna spent much of her nearly thirty years at USA TODAY as a senior entertainment reporter. Now unchained from the grind of daily journalism, she is ready to view the world of movies with fresh eyes.

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A Walk in the Woods (2015)

Rated R for language and some sexual references

104 minutes

Robert Redford as Bill Bryson

Nick Nolte as Katz

Emma Thompson as Catherine Bryson

Nick Offerman as REI Dave

Kristen Schaal as Mary Ellen

Bill Holderman
Bill Bryson

Cinematography

John Bailey

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A Walk in the Woods Reviews

Profound is definitely not a word that can be associated with A Walk in the Woods.

Full Review | Sep 13, 2021

Won't ever be mentioned in the same breath as any of Redford or Nolte's classic films - it's too silly and too obvious - but watching these two charismatic actors onscreen it's not hard to remember what we liked about them in the first place.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 3, 2021

(Redford and Nolte) make tired clichés feel like old friends, taking us on a pleasant stroll through the woods that may not lead anywhere, but we're having such a good time that the destination no longer matters.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 5, 2019

As an adaptation of Bill Bryson's writing A Walk in the Woods is disappointing, but there's still pleasure to be had in seeing two veteran actors taking a hike together.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 4, 2019

As beautiful, witty and serene as this story of self-discovery is, and as effortlessly as the veteran stars pull it off, I can't help but hope that Redford will take on a project with a bit more meat on the bone.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 11, 2018

Redford, Nolte, and co. want us to leave with a profound sense of self and inspiration, they leave us instead with a fairly fun buddy-comedy in the woods. Still, it's worth the walk.

Full Review | Original Score: 5.5/10 | Oct 25, 2018

American Pie for nursing homes.

Full Review | Aug 29, 2018

They wander across the screen, and we gain no insight into their characters. The dialogue isn't funny or moving. Nothing is ventured, and nothing is gained.

Full Review | Aug 23, 2018

Worth sticking with for that, and to see Redford and Nolte spark off each other like the old pros they are.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 23, 2018

"A Walk in the Woods" makes you laugh and inspires you to reconnect with people and nature. It's truly a feel-good film.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 21, 2018

Tents collapse, bunkbeds give way and streams are there only for men-old-enough-to-know-better to fall into. Subtle it is not.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 26, 2017

It's enough to make those Grumpy Old Men movies seem like masterworks of grace and subtlety.

Full Review | Aug 21, 2017

[Walk in the Woods] is like watching your grandpa explore America, but when he starts to lecture, you realize it's time to leave the old man behind for the bears.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Aug 16, 2017

A Walk in the Woods isn't a spectacular film. It's just a good, simple, solid one. Pleasurable in the most unassuming way.

Full Review | Jun 27, 2017

[It's] more about the ebbs and flows of friendship than it is about the walk. And when the friends in question are a brace of ageing Hollywood heavyweights brimming with charisma, its no hardship to share time in their company.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 31, 2016

If you're in the mood for guys who resemble old furniture or aged whisky, bickering incessantly as they trek through miles of forest, A Walk in the Woods is just the thing.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 27, 2016

Darned if the film didn't ultimately work for me. Mostly, it was the fun of seeing these two veteran actors riff off each other.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 12, 2016

Inoffensive, unremarkable and mostly just a bit naff, this adaptation of Bill Bryson's memoir of walking the Appalachian Trail is about as good as it could possibly have hoped to be, which is to say not very good at all.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 4, 2016

A sitcom about old men creaking along the Appalachian Trail, reminiscing about slutty girls, and maybe having a stroke at any moment. You know, for fun.

Full Review | Apr 4, 2016

A Walk in the Woods is a big-hearted, endlessly funny and just plain likable survivalist-buddy-road-trip-comedy-drama that also has something to say.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 7, 2016

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A walk in the woods, common sense media reviewers.

Likable "old guy" comedy has great vistas, strong language.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Encourages older people to get out and try things,

Characters are highly flawed, but it's admirab

Angry man bangs on doors with a baseball bat. Fall

Strong innuendo, verbal sexual references, stories

Strong, fairly frequent language includes "f-

K-Mart is featured prominently in one sequence. A

Minor characters drink and drive. A character is a

Positive Messages

Encourages older people to get out and try things, and encourages people in general to see life in new ways -- i.e. that sometimes things aren't quite so black and white as we might think.

Positive Role Models

Characters are highly flawed, but it's admirable that they try something challenging at an age when they might be less likely to go outside their comfort zone.

Violence & Scariness

Angry man bangs on doors with a baseball bat. Falls from ledges. Chases. Pratfalls. Bears.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Strong innuendo, verbal sexual references, stories about sex. A couple kiss in a car; she disappears below the seat to give him (implied) oral sex. Flirting. Panties shown. A married man resists flirtations.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Strong, fairly frequent language includes "f--k," "s--t," "p---y," "son of a bitch," "goddamn," "damn," "blow job."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

K-Mart is featured prominently in one sequence. A Google search is shown.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Minor characters drink and drive. A character is a recovering alcoholic. He has a bottle of whisky, but resists drinking it. References to getting drunk.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that A Walk in the Woods is a dramedy -- based on Bill Bryson's nonfiction book -- about two older men (played by Robert Redford and Nick Nolte ) who decide to hike the Appalachian Trail. Language is the biggest issue, with frequent uses of "f--k" and "s--t," as well as strong sexual references/innuendo and stories of sexual exploits. An amorous couple kisses while driving a car, and she disappears below the seat to (it's implied) perform oral sex. There's some flirting, and a man gets in trouble with a married woman's husband, who wields a baseball bat. Characters fall off ledges, there's some arguing, and bears wander into a campsite. One character is a recovering alcoholic and tells stories of being drunk; he carries a bottle of whisky, but doesn't drink it. Minor characters are shown drinking and driving. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

Parents say (2)
Kids say (2)

Based on 2 parent reviews

Great potential, but ultimately disappointing

What's the story.

After living all over the world, travel writer Bill Bryson ( Robert Redford ) finds himself back in the United States, semi-retired, giving inane TV interviews and attending one funeral too many. He decides to hike the 2000+ mile Appalachian Trail, despite warnings that he's too old and could die. His wife ( Emma Thompson ) agrees, on the condition that he not go alone; the only friend crazy enough to volunteer for the adventure is grizzled ex-alcoholic Stephen Katz ( Nick Nolte ). On their journey, the two hikers encounter everything from rain, snow, and mud to annoying fellow hikers, angry husbands, hungry bears, and tricky ledges. But they also find a few majestic places and quiet moments that remind them of what it means to be alive.

Is It Any Good?

While this movie could have been an overly earnest drama or an embarrassing slapstick farce, it settles somewhere comfortably in between. It's inconsequential, but it should please fans of codger comedies. Director Ken Kwapis , a veteran of TV series and lightweight comedies, mainly keeps things on an even keel. Even if Kristen Schaal (as an annoying hiker) and Susan McPhail (as a cheating wife) are witless diversions, the movie usually veers back on the trail quickly enough.

Potential dramatic pitfalls are handled lightly or simply left behind. The wonderful Mary Steenburgen plays a hotel proprietress who makes eyes at Bryson, and Katz has a close call with an alcoholic episode. The movie's strength is in the relationship between the two men, with Nolte's comically gruff performance providing the anchor. They sometimes argue and other times share memories, but their bond is largely unexplained and unspoken.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how A Walk in the Woods portrays its main characters. Why do you think there are so few movies and TV shows that feature older characters? Teens: Does seeing a mostly 60-and-up cast make you not want to see a movie? Why?

How does Nick Nolte's character deal with his alcoholism ? Does his method make sense? When is it OK for kids to watch movies with drinking, drugs, and smoking?

Do you think that the characters "cheated," or did they really get something out of their experience? What's the benefit of finishing the entire trail rather than experiencing part of it? Why is it important to try new things, at every age?

Movie Details

In theaters : September 4, 2015
On DVD or streaming : December 29, 2015
Cast : Robert Redford , Nick Nolte , Emma Thompson
Director : Ken Kwapis
Studio : Broad Green Pictures
Genre : Comedy
Topics : Friendship
Run time : 104 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : language and some sexual references
Last updated : November 28, 2023

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Broad Green Pictures

Summary Travel writer Bill Bryson (Robert Redford), instead of retiring to enjoy his loving and beautiful wife (Emma Thompson) and large and happy family, challenges himself to hike the Appalachian Trail - 2,200 miles of America’s most unspoiled, spectacular and rugged countryside from Georgia to Maine. The peace and tranquility he hopes to find ... Read More

Directed By : Ken Kwapis

Written By : Michael Arndt, Bill Holderman, Bill Bryson

A Walk in the Woods

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A Walk in the Woods (2015)

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Movie Review – A Walk in the Woods (2015)

August 25, 2015 by Matthew Lee

A Walk in the Woods , 2015.

Directed by Ken Kwapis. Starring Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Kristen Schaal and Mary Steenburgen.

A semi-retired celebrated travel writer attempts the Appalachian Trail with an old travelling companion.

Looking back at Ken Kwapis’ back catalogue, one gets the impression that he’s definitely well-suited in human comedy-dramas of affluent, middle-class Americans. Kwapis’ film style is greatly utilized here more than in its subject matter; it’s essentially a two-hander piece between Robert Redford’s Bill Bryson, the travelling writer, and his old companion Katz (Nick Nolte). The set ups these characters find themselves in are akin to the sitcom aesthetics Kwapis is also used to working in, with simplistic two-shot camera compositions. In short, Kwapis fans shan’t be disappointed.

Further strengths lie in the on-screen chemistry between Redford and Nolte as they portray such polar opposite characters; Bryson is a sarcastic cynic but has his life in order, whereas Katz is a benevolent recovering alcoholic who still remains in his youthful days. Their contrasts can appear like caricatures, but their acting ability, charm, and on-screen chemistry binds the film together.

This pleasantly shot and scripted film takes the Appalachian Trail as, undoubtedly, a metaphor for both the duo and their individual lives with the inevitability of age, retirement, and death (all conveyed with a warm Sunday-afternoon feeling). The nuanced discussions between the two on their past adventures, their current successes, and their future endeavors ensure these themes remain light, and rather touching. Furthermore, their random encounters along their hiking narrative reflect the types of people one does in life from the efficient and helpful, to the obnoxious – all purposefully youthful. And this reflection between the youth and the elderly is always in its visuals to reflect the inevitable. The only quips made against the inexperienced travelers are towards their ill-advised equipment. In short, the film’s strength is primarily in its visuals and simplistic narrative structure to convey such themes of life.

If there are any cons to this film, it would be the questionable portrayal of women. Bryson’s wife Cathy (Emma Thompson) serves as a minor obstacle in the film’s opening act, and the only obnoxious character they encounter along their trail is Mary (Kristen Schaal) who talks endlessly, insists she is always right, and everyone else is wrong and boring. Other women they encounter serve only as objects of desire. However, as this reviewer hasn’t read Bryson’s original memoirs, it’s uncertain how much is screenwriter Michael Arndt’s ( Toy Story 3 , Little Miss Sunshine , The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ) creative license, the novels own exaggeration, or both. This is, honestly, a minor nitpick as it’s not done with malevolence.

A Walk in the Woods is Wild meets The Odd Couple -lite that tackles major moral and mortal issues with nuance, warmth, and without pretension. This movie clearly aimed at an older audience will delight those looking for a light hiking movie with simple set pieces and a few chuckles. What the film lacks in deep explorative issues clearly makes up for it in its pleasant delivery.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★

Matthew Lee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=8k_v0cVxqEY

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DVD & Streaming

A Walk in the Woods

Content caution.

In Theaters

September 2, 2015
Robert Redford as Bill Bryson; Nick Nolte as Stephen Katz; Emma Thompson as Catherine Bryson; Mary Steenburgen as Jeannie; Nick Offerman as REI Dave; Kristen Schaal as Mary Ellen

Home Release Date

December 29, 2015

Distributor

Broad Green Productions

Movie Review

There’s nothing like a nice walk to clear your head a little. But 2,000 miles? Might be overdoing it a touch.

Bill Bryson doesn’t think so, though. The celebrated author has a lot on his mind, after all.

He’s written lots of popular books, but the media grind is getting to him. His contemporaries are starting to die off. Sure, he’s had a pretty fantastic, fulfilling life … but he’s not ready to put a bow on it just yet. Bryson has a few more miles left in him, and the Appalachian Trail—all 2,180 miles and 14 states of it—seems just the ticket.

There are a few hurdles to clear. “You haven’t hiked in 30 years,” his wife, Catherine, reminds him. “Isn’t this something you could do in the Volvo?” He’s got to buy reams of newfangled camping equipment, too. Oh, and he has to find somebody he can walk with —and frankly, most of his friends would rather juggle live hedgehogs than spend who knows how many months hiking around who knows where just so Bryson can find whatever’s left of himself. Only Stephen Katz, one of Bryson’s oldest and most annoying friends, volunteers to go—even though Bryson didn’t actually invite him.

“Didn’t you end up getting on each other’s nerves?” Catherine asks gently.

“We started out on each other’s nerves,” Bryson corrects. “We ended up despising each other.”

Katz was a drunken, womanizing careening wreck of a man well on his way to a felony when Bryson best knew him, and he’s not changed much since. If Bryson’s looking to outrun time, Katz is looking to outrun a couple of outstanding warrants. Not that either can run very fast.

Still, the two fly down to Georgia to start their multi-season trek through America’s great hills and forests. It’s a brutal experience testing both body and soul: the lung-busting inclines, the unpredictable weather, the eerie loneliness, the step after step after endless step.

But, hey, the first mile’s the hardest, right? Just 2,179 to go.

Positive Elements

Bryson and Katz may not be much alike, but they do (finally) find things to like about each other. Bryson knows he could use a little of Katz’s spontaneity. Katz respects what Bryson has done with his life. And even though Katz at first has little use for Bryson’s long-winded nature lectures and Bryson’s embarrassed by Katz’s wild stories, each grows to appreciate and value the other’s perspective. “You know, Bryson,” Katz finally tells him, “You’re the only guy I’d risk my life with.”

They surprise each other with some admirable maturity, too. Judging by Katz’s stories, you get the feeling Bryson was something of a randy ladies’ man back in the day. And when Bryson insists he’s been faithful to Catherine for the decades they’ve been married, Katz is skeptical at first. But it’s true: Not even the longing eyes of a pretty hotel proprietor can entice Bryson away from his vows. Katz, meanwhile, is a recovering alcoholic: He hasn’t had a drop to drink in years. And when Bryson has reason to doubt him, Katz proves his commitment to sobriety.

Spiritual Elements

Bryson and Catherine attend a funeral at a church.

Sexual Content

Katz meets and flirts with a woman at a Laundromat. He’s wearing only what looks to be a plastic poncho (while the rest of his clothes are being washed), and the two trade winks and nods about her shredded panties (caught in the machine). He later tells Bryson he plans to meet her again since he’s feeling a “stiffening of the old resolve.” But then her husband “interferes,” prompting Katz to marvel that the two people in the world who would actually sleep with the quite overweight woman are both in the same town. Katz tells Bryson his criteria for a woman is that she has “a heartbeat and a full set of limbs.” Bryson immediately quips that while most people’s standards go down as they get older, Katz’s actually went up.

Bryson, meanwhile, strikes up a conversation with a hotel propriettress named Jeannie. He goes to the office in his bathrobe and asks for towels, and the two spend a great deal of time talking, and perhaps flirting a bit. It’s clear there’s an attraction there, but Bryson has no interest in cheating on his wife: He calls her and leaves messages, telling her he loves her. He tells Katz about how wonderful all her strange little habits are. And when the two are reunited, both are clearly thrilled. Not that Bryson’s monogamy impresses Katz. “That can’t be good for you,” he says.

Bryson and Katz clearly did their share of carousing when they were younger. There are allusions to sexual escapades, oral sex, female body parts and brushes with venereal diseases.

Violent Content

The hubby of the laundry lady Katz has a crush on seems intent on either hurting or killing the guy. In an effort to dissuade Bryson from taking the trip, Catherine shows him a variety of fearsome and grotesque stories from the Appalachian Trail—about bear attacks, frozen corpses and murder. Bryson and Katz do stumble and fall a couple of times, getting soaked in a stream the first time, tumbling from the trail and getting stuck on a ledge the second. There’s a half-joking reference to suicide.

Crude or Profane Language

At least a baker’s dozen of f-words. Nearly 20 s-words. The field of other profanities that sprouts along the trail includes “a–,” “b–ch,” “b–tard,” “h—” and “p—ies”). God’s name is misused at least 15 times, most often with “d–n.” Jesus’ name is abused nearly that many times.

Drug and Alcohol Content

As mentioned, Katz says he’s given up alcohol, and his abstinence surprises Bryson when they order drinks at a restaurant. When hearing that Katz is going to have a Coke, Bryson amends his own order for the “tallest, coldest beer on the menu” to a Coke, too. But Bryson begins to doubt his friend when he discovers a bottle of whiskey in Katz’s backpack.

The two stop on a ledge, with hills and valleys full of trees stretching out as far as the eye can see. “I love to drink,” Katz admits. “I love everything about it.” But he knows he can’t ever stop with just one. He has been sober, Katz insists. The bottle—unopened—is for him both a symbol that he can stay dry … and a crutch in case he can’t. And with that, he asks Bryson to open it. Bryson does and hands the whiskey to Katz, who smells it, smiles, and pours it out on the rock. “That was a nice moment,” he says, then quickly adds that he’s already regretting dumping it out. (Interestingly, in the book this movie is based on, Katz does indeed fall off the wagon. Not so onscreen.)

Other Negative Elements

There are several references to burying one’s own organic refuse. (We see special shovels designed to dig small holes for the purpose.) Katz and Bryson shake off another annoying hiker.

I’ve always been drawn to the idea of long walks. Not enough to do one, mind you, but I’ve always felt there’s a spiritual element to walking and hiking—to glory in God’s creation while allowing a few more of our petty, manmade cares to sluff off our shoulders with each step. Nature can even feel like church sometimes, with birds supplying the worship music and lichen padding the pews.

This movie, on the other hand, is not very much like church at all. Because as primed as I am to like movies like A Walk in the Woods —as much as it might make me want to take a couple of months off to hike through the mountains of Colorado—there’s more to movies than just vibe. (Or even having fun laughing at Robert Redford trying to make you laugh.)

Despite some of the light one-liners and nice messages about friends and family, there are also quite a few content concerns here. You know, like the foul language Redford and Nolte toss back and forth. And the sexual allusions, too. Those things aren’t worth walking very far for—even if it’s just across the multiplex parking lot.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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‘A Walk in the Woods’ movie review

When Bill Bryson's travelogue " A Walk in the Woods " came out in 1998, it landed almost instantly on the New York Times bestseller list. The word of mouth was epidemic: This book is hilarious.

Now that the account of two mismatched galoots attempting to hike the Appalachian Trail is a movie, directed by Ken Kwapis, hilarious isn’t the first word that comes to mind. Cute, maybe. Or pleasant. But you won’t have to worry about laughing so hard you snort, which was a legitimate concern for anyone reading Bryson’s prose in public.

Robert Redford, who has been trying to get this movie made for a decade, stars as Bryson. The Bill of the movie is mildly misanthropic, the kind of guy who will do anything to avoid awkward small talk — even if it means disappearing into the forest for five months. His wife Catherine (Emma Thompson) thinks this is a terrible idea and starts printing out articles about hikers who were killed along the trail, which stretches for more than 2,000 miles between Georgia and Maine. (In a nice touch, when Bill reads the stories, we hear them in Catherine’s hectoring voice.) When she doesn’t succeed in deterring her husband, Catherine insists that Bill at least find a travel companion. That’s how he ends up reuniting with the brash, bumbling Stephen Katz (Nick Nolte), a childhood friend of Bill’s. The pair hadn’t spoken in decades. So much for avoiding small talk.

Where Bill is a trim family man with many professional accolades, Katz, as he is known, has had a harder life, leaving him disheveled and bear-like. He explains that he spent most of the intervening decades sleeping around and getting drunk (and, presumably, smoking, judging by his nails-on-a-chalkboard voice). He’s also, incidentally, on the lam from a drunken-driving offense. This setup lays the foundation for an odd-couple dynamic, but the bickering never really kicks in. As it turns out, the old friends have surprisingly similar senses of humor, constantly dishing out sarcastic gibes, only some of which land well.

The trail doesn’t offer much in the way of drama, other than a couple of huge bears. They’re an opportunity for a sight gag as the men stand up with their tents on their heads, trying to look intimidating. A few other eccentric characters cross their path, including Kristen Schaal as an irritatingly judgmental authority on all things trail-related. Mostly, the men just amble along without so much as a blister, wheezing their way through a low-stakes journey that they’re free to quit at any time.

In the book, Bryson would occasionally go on delightful tangents about the history of the trail or certain types of trees, and Redford’s incarnation does that, too. Here, however, it feels less organic, as Bill gives a bored-looking Katz a lesson in American chestnuts. And Kwapis’s direction can be maddening at times. Camera angles tend to show either too much or too little visual information, making it difficult to tell what exactly is happening and, at times, blunting the impact of a sight gag.

For a moment, the movie tries to be about something deeper — some existential epiphany, perhaps. The book didn’t deal in platitudes. It was content to be lightly educational, but mostly just entertaining. The movie aspires to be more than that, only to reveal how much less than that it really is.

R. At area theaters. Contains strong language and some sexual references. 98 minutes.

A Walk In The Woods Review

17 Sep 2015

104 minutes

A Walk In The Woods

Two 70-plus boys trekking the length of the American East Coast ruminating on life! It’s a male Wild! Without flashbacks. Or personal demons. Or sex. Based on a bestselling 1998 memoir of writer/humorist Bill Bryson — snapped up early by Redford as a possible project for him and Paul Newman — this is a gentle, droll charmer that relies on the still considerable presence of its odd couple on the road, with breathtaking scenery and starry, starry nights their backdrops.

Having lived in the UK most of his adult life, Bryson and his family moved back to the US in the ’90s for a spell. In one of those ‘I should do this while I still can’ brainstorms he conceives the idea of hiking the famous Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. His wife (Emma Thompson), aghast, only reluctantly agrees to let him go if someone goes with him. The sole volunteer is uninvited Stephen Katz (a pseudonym by which Bryson immortalised his travel companion in early chronicles of their youthful misadventures across Europe). Katz is an unhealthy alcoholic on the run from something, but Bryson suppresses his misgivings and the two set forth.

Nothing wildly dramatic occurs, which is lucky since director Ken Kwapis is primarily a TV guy safe with characters conversing, nothing tricky. There is slapstick: an encounter with a bear, a snowstorm, a comically disastrous tumble that strands them on a cliff ledge, and the odd flirtatious motel manageress (Mary Steenburgen) or obnoxious fellow hiker to escape. The pleasure is in the sarcastic byplay between coarse, rascally Katz and drily witty, intellectual Bryson, with some musing on the environment, life, death and love. No jeopardy, no redemption, just a pleasant hike huffing and puffing through shared memories and the craving for a last adventure.

'A Walk in the Woods' review: Robert Redford's fallen and he can't get up

Updated: Sep. 01, 2015, 7:00 a.m. |
Published: Sep. 01, 2015, 6:00 a.m.
Jeff Baker | The Oregonian/OregonLive

A Walk in the Woods

Robert Redford and Nick Nolte in "A Walk in the Woods."

(Broad Green Pictures)

Appalachian Trail officials are worried about a surge of hikers after the release of "A Walk in the Woods," the Robert Redford movie based on Bill Bryson's bestselling book. It happened with "Wild": applications for permits to hike the length of the Pacific Crest Trail skyrocketed after the success of Cheryl Strayed's book and the movie starring Reese Witherspoon.

But fear not, lovers of the AT -- the only stampede caused by "A Walk in the Woods" will be from moviegoers crowding the aisles and trying to hike out of theaters as quickly as possible after suffering through this lame excuse for a movie. It's not "Wild," it's mild.

There's a better chance of being killed by a black bear than enjoying "A Walk in the Woods." Since only 14 people in the continental U.S. died from black bear attacks in a 109-year period, those are some long odds. Fatal attacks by mountain goats are pretty rare, too, but Nick Nolte looks like a mountain goat and growls like a bear, so that evens it up a little.

What's funny isn't the rate of mountain goat attacks -- even one is too many, we can all agree on that -- but the fact that Nolte, a-huffin' and a-puffin' and a-cussin' like Yosemite Sam, is the best thing in "A Walk in the Woods." He's completely convincing as an out-of-shape slob, and he flashes some real emotion -- resentment, anger, tenderness -- in his scenes with Redford, who acts as stone-faced and immobile as George Washington on Mt. Rushmore.

Redford plays Bryson, a successful, erudite writer with a restless urge to challenge himself before complacency grips him tightly in his rocking chair. The Appalachian Trail is right outside his New Hampshire home, and it doesn't look all that tough from the living room. Emma Thompson (age difference with Redford: 22 years) plays his level-headed wife, who points out that he's old (true) and there are bears (true, but see above). She insists he bring someone with him and after exhausting the options, he gets a call from his dissolute friend Stephen Katz (Nolte), who's heard about the trip and invites himself along.

Bryson's a gifted writer whose books on the history of language and science show a love of research, something he didn't think to do before hitting the trail. Getting in shape, getting the right equipment and field-testing it, doing some practice hikes ... why bother? This ineptitude leads to one amusing scene in an REI that Nick Offerman steals from Redford and Nolte.

Once they get in the woods, the veteran actors bicker like two senior citizens grabbing for the last dessert in the buffet line. Nolte, the junior partner, does his part but the timing is off and the fault lies with Redford, always a beat slow. They shake off a persistent goofball on the trail (Kristin Schaal, another scene-stealer) and have an awkward time in a small town, where Redford fends off an advance from a hotel owner played by Mary Steenburgen (age difference from Redford: 17 years). The low point is an accident and a long, long take on a ledge that a 4-year-old could figure out. Put your foot there, and grab that branch, I wanted to scream as the actors squabbled and pouted away.

Redford wanted to make "A Walk in the Woods" for himself and Paul Newman but Newman wisely decided he was too old. Nolte was the right choice as Katz but too much time passed. Bryson was in his early 40s when he attempted the AT; Redford is too old for the part, and somebody should have said so. It doesn't help that director Ken Kwapis stages everything like a sitcom, has no sense of pace, and buries the theme of late-life friendship under a haze of sentiment and trail dust. "A Walk in the Woods" could be called "I Need a Walker to Get to the Woods." It's a good walk spoiled.

"A Walk in the Woods"

Grade: D-plus

Running time: 98 minutes

Playing at: Opens Wednesday, Sept. 2.

Cast and crew: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Mary Steenburgen, Kristen Schaal, Nick Offerman. Written by Rick Kerb and William Holderman, based on the book by Bill Bryson. Directed by Ken Kwapis.

The lowdown: Redford and Nolte attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail with disastrous results.

-- Jeff Baker

503-221-8165

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Review: How ‘A Walk in the Woods’ lost its way

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As “A Walk in the Woods” opens, Robert Redford, playing author Bill Bryson, suffers through a morning talk-show appearance. He smiles and nods and vaguely agrees with the clueless host without saying much as he is told various things about himself and his work. It is a moment of small comedy played with a broad edge and is the funniest, most genuine thing in the movie. From there on the film proves to be a slog.

One can imagine Redford himself having suffered through his share of similarly awkward interactions. He has apparently been interested in an adaptation of Bryson’s 1998 nonfiction book about attempting to hike the nearly 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail for some time. Redford initially thought it could provide a final on-screen pairing for himself and Paul Newman, until Newman’s health declined ahead of his death in 2008. Instead, Nick Nolte plays the role of Bryson’s estranged friend turned traveling companion Stephen Katz.

Directed by Ken Kwapis from a screenplay credited to Rick Kerb and Redford’s producing partner Bill Holderman, the story would presumably provide an opportunity for plenty of walking and talking, and in turn insightful, bantering exchanges on aging, friendship and the meaning of being a man in the modern world placed in pointed distinction to the natural setting of the forest trail.

If only. The film that emerges is based less in ideas and dialogue than in shtick and busy business, with Nolte in particular uncomfortably overplaying his way through, his rumbling, weathered voice now often sounding like some mixture of gravel and goo. Redford, who has never gone the way of full De Niro comedic mugging, desperately tries to bring an amused urbanity to his performance as counterbalance.

Bryson in the book is mid-40s; Redford will be 80 next year. Is the male psyche (straight American division) so locked off and the issues of manhood so essentially unchanging in that gap? Apparently so, though the movie is never interested in going too deep.

As with the recent chatter around “Ant-Man,” in which the sharp, fun film directed by Peyton Reed was endlessly compared to the phantom unmade version by Edgar Wright, who exited the project, it is difficult to compare the film made by Kwapis to those not made by other filmmakers. Yet one can’t help but imagine what previously attached directors Barry Levinson or Richard Linklater might have done with this material, with their affinity for scenes of drifting talk and hanging out.

Kwapis, who has a background in TV and has directed numerous features such as “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” seems ill at ease with letting scenes just play out. There is no meditative or relaxing aspect to the movie, as events are always being pushed to happen rather than allowed to naturally unfold.

The film has an uncomfortable look-at-these-yokels attitude toward everyone Bryson and Katz encounter along their way. Things reach a low point in an extended bit about Katz’s trying to hook up with a hefty woman he meets in a small town laundromat and running afoul of her pickup-driving husband. There is also a dismaying, dismissive attitude toward women — in particular a motormouth hiker (Kristen Schaal) the pair encounters on the trail — that goes unexplored.

Emma Thompson plays Bryson’s warm, witty and understanding wife, appearing early in the film only to largely disappear, unfortunately, once the pair is on its way. Here’s a rule: If you have Emma Thompson in your movie, use her.

The movie ultimately has little to say about masculinity and male friendship, more in line with the broad comedy of “Grumpy Old Men” or “Wild Hogs” than the headier insights of other films about men, nature and bonding such as “Old Joy” or “Land Ho!”

Despite Redford’s enthusiasm and best efforts, “A Walk in the Woods” is a tedious journey to nowhere special.

-----------------------

‘A Walk in the Woods’

Running time: 1 hour and 44 minutes

Rating: R for language and some sexual references

In general release

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Walk in the Woods, A (United States, 2015)

A couple of old guys taking a walk on the Appalachian Trail - it doesn't sound like a winning motion picture formula and, as it turns out, it isn't. Like all road trip movies, the success (or lack thereof) of A Walk in the Woods relies heavily on the chemistry between the two leads, in this case Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. And, although both men do a reasonable job inhabiting their characters, as an odd couple, they don't "click." There's something missing. Maybe if this had been made 20 years ago by Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. Or even 10 years ago, as originally planned, with Redford and Paul Newman…

A Walk in the Woods is surprisingly funny at times but, like many comedies, it runs out of steam about halfway through. Some of the humor is unexpectedly lowbrow, at least insofar as anything with Redford could be considered "lowbrow". The iconic actor generally takes the high road, leaving the crass comments and physical slapstick to Nolte. There are some clever, witty one-liners. I found myself laughing more than once or twice but the jokes, like the movie as a whole, lack staying power. The first half is significantly more enjoyable than the second.

Bryson, a renowned travelogue author, decides to walk the Appalachian Trail on a whim - perhaps it's a delayed mid-life crisis or maybe he's thinking of a bucket list. His wife, Catharine (Emma Thompson), won't let him make the hike alone. After sending out feelers to most of his old friends and striking out, he is forced to invite the only one with interest - a man he hasn't seen in decades and with whom he didn't part on the best of terms. By his own admission, Katz hasn't done much with his life, and is so out-of-shape, it looks like he might have trouble hiking for a mile, let alone 2100+ of them. Together, the codgers hop on a plane to Georgia and the odyssey begins.

Decades removed from being considered a heartthrob, Redford is still able to command the camera's attention with his innate charisma and likability. He's a good foil for Nolte's oafishness; it's surprising the two don't mesh better in an oil-and-water fashion. The lighthearted tone keeps A Walk in the Woods from becoming too dour and, in contrast with other wilderness adventure movies (like the aforementioned Wild and the similarly-titled Into the Wild ), there's never a sense that Nature is more than a cantankerous prankster. The message about mortality is underplayed - older people may be spry of mind but their bodies often don't cooperate. Any bittersweet element this might have injected into the proceedings is quickly washed away by a jokey turn. The film adamantly rejects being serious for more than a passing moment. A Walk in the Woods is pleasant but inconsequential, a passing diversion rather than a worthy cinematic destination.

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Watch CBS News

Movie Review: A Walk In The Woods

September 2, 2015 / 4:00 AM EDT / CBS Philadelphia

By Bill Wine

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- You remember Wild ? Think of this one as Mild .

Like the Reese Witherspoon vehicle of 2014, A Walk in the Woods involves an improbably lengthy hike.

But that was a drama with a little comedy. Very little.

This is a comedy with a little drama. Very little.

A Walk in the Woods stars Robert Redford as real-life travel writer Bill Bryson, who intends to hike the 2,100-mile-plus Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, against the objections of his sensible British wife, played by Emma Thompson, who disapproves entirely but who argues that if he is intent on doing this dangerous thing, at least take someone with him.

Brysdon agrees to do just that, but when his first few choices for a walking mate and traveling companion fall through, he gets a surprise call from an old frenemy, fellow Iowan Stephen Katz, played by co-star Nick Nolte.

Although they had a falling out decades ago, Stephen just heard about the marathon hike and would like to join him despite his many physical ailments.

Katz looks like he won't even make it out of the driveway, but Bryson agrees.

Along the way, they encounter a flirtatious motel and restaurant owner played by Mary Steenburgen and an annoyingly talkative hiker played by Kristn Schaal.

A genial divertissement, A Walk in the Woods is based on the 1998 book of the same name by Bryson that was adapted by screenwriters Rick Kerb and Bill Holderman.

Director Ken Kwapis, whose background is primarily in comedy ( He Said, She Said ; The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants , He's Just Not That Into You , Dunston Checks In ; Big Miracle ) adopts and maintains a droll tone and lets the adventure unroll naturally, getting a few laughs but mostly smiles of recognition.

In other words, it's relaxed and it's tame, but it'll keep that grin on your face throughout.

Kwapis does overplay his hand in depending on the rapport between Redford and Nolte to carry the film like a manageable backpack. But because the script stays so completely on the surface, because no one digs any deeper into mortality-related themes other than aging and friendship along the way, we exit wishing there was more that qualified as gravitas to stay in the memory.

That is, we've enjoyed the company of the principals, but we wish it had built to something more in the is-that-all-there-is third act.

As for Redford, on his silent own in 2013's All is Lost , at least this time he has company on his adopted expedition, which means someone to react to his tendency towards pomposity. And Nolte makes for engaging company at that.

The comedic chemistry between old pros Redford and Nolte as unlikely buddies is a demonstration of what presence and star power are all about. But, ultimately, despite the fact that the universal battle against the inevitable and dispiriting aging process gives the film a bouncy resonance, the film doesn't end up building too much.

The star turns by Redford (who was also a producer) and Nolte, who are septuagenarians even though the hikers in the book were actually fortysomethings, highlight a project originally intended way back when as a reunion vehicle for Redford and Paul Newman, co-stars of The Sting and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , with the latter classic western cleverly referenced in a way that no fan of that film will miss.

So we'll hike 2-1/2 stars out of 4 for an unpretentious geriatric variation of the hike flick. Sitting through A Walk in the Woods is a walk in the park – not life-changing because it doesn't even try to be, but certainly pleasant.

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A Walk in the Woods Is a Trail Not Worth Traveling

The lax, lame A Walk in the Woods is a road movie without a road, a journey of self-discovery without discovery, and a tale of friendship without any chemistry. Based on travel writer Bill Bryson’s 1998 best-seller about his attempts to hike the Appalachian Trail in his late 40s, it stars two far older actors whose energies can either be complementary or mismatched: The always understated Robert Redford plays Bryson, and Nick Nolte, one of our most wonderful scenery-chewers, plays Stephen Katz, Bryson’s gruff, shaggy old friend from Iowa who is the only one to answer the writer’s call for a traveling companion. Together, these two men — one an intellectual who is feeling the creeping approach of his own mortality, the other a walking human disaster zone — spend months attempting to make their way up the trail, which runs from Georgia to Maine.

That could be the setup for a sensitive story about age, friendship, determination, you name it. But for whatever reason, the film settles instead for a tonal muddle of broad, crass comedy and wan observations. At one point, Bryson and Katz hitch a ride with a couple who are about to get married; the woman goes down on the man while he drives and guzzles from a whiskey bottle. Later, Katz attempts to have a fling with an overweight woman he meets at the laundromat, and there are at least three jokes about her panty size. There’s also a collapsing bunk-bed gag, because why even bother to finish this sentence.

Everything, it seems, is being played for laughs … which would have been okay if the “laughs” weren’t just lowest-common-denominator gags executed with little energy or conviction. Director Ken Kwapis is a journeyman whose stock-in-trade seems to be mild, unremarkable programmers, but he also once made one of the strangest road movies of all time, the 1988 Cyndi Lauper–Jeff Goldblum vehicle Vibes . That wasn’t a good movie, but one wishes he’d reconnected to some of its loony spirit, just to give this one the semblance of a pulse.

The dialogue occasionally attempts to play off the notion of age, disappearance, and rebirth. The erudite Bryson makes observations about geologic time, and about how “the world is being reborn from below while it’s withering away on top.” He discourses on the “poor, unsuspecting American chestnut,” trees that grew so tall and thrived for so long before nearly going extinct due to a fungus. Katz, however, doesn’t think about such things: “I don’t get bogged down in minutiae,” he rasps. “I’m above the details.”

As an actor, Nolte doesn’t get enough credit for his transformative powers. Despite his burly presence and low voice, he’s always had a surprising ability to modulate and shape-shift. (Think of how physically and sonically different his performances are in Lorenzo’s Oil , Affliction , The Thin Red Line , and Cape Fear .) Here, he’s playing a recovering but unrepentant alcoholic. (“I spent half my life getting drunk and chasing pussy,” he says at one point. “The other half, I wasted.”) And his voice comes out in a broken squawk, like Daffy Duck taking a dump. Is this a performance, or is it simply where Nolte has landed after years of hard living? Does it matter? His aura suits the role and the movie.

But nothing else works. Nothing develops in A Walk in the Woods — not the people, not the journey. One doesn’t expect Wild , exactly, but when a character talks about how exhausted and strained they are by the trail, it might have been nice for us as viewers to see it in some way. Instead, the spaces of the Appalachian Trail shift between nondescript motels and diners and parking lots and occasional blandly picturesque landscapes. One doesn’t sense a connection between the characters and the world around them. At one point, Bryson and Katz gaze out in awe at the Smoky Mountains; the shot looking at them feels like it was filmed in someone’s backyard, while what they’re seeing is a long, high traveling angle that doesn’t feel like anyone’s point of view. Maybe that’s the idea: to highlight their alienation from nature. Or maybe this is just exceptionally lazy filmmaking.

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A Walk in the Woods

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Movie Review: “A Walk in the Woods”

They cuss and fuss and reminisce and make all the same mistakes Reese Witherspoon’s character made in “Wild.” And then some.

The annoying “trail mate” shows up at the right time, the fetching innkeeper a little later and the bear a little later still. All very predictable when you take “A Walk in the Woods.”

But God help me, I grinned from beginning to end.

Bill Bryson’s hiking the Appalachian Trail memoir becomes a Robert Redford/Nick Nolte vehicle, an amusing and light “Slightly Grouchy Old Men” aimed squarely at an older audience.

Redford is Bryson, an award winning travel writer reaching retirement age, and the age when you spend too much time going to friends’ funerals. On an impulse, he decides that this Appalachian Trail that runs through the woods in the New Hampshire town where he lives just might be one last challenge to tackle.

His wife (Emma Thomson) is not keen on the idea, but resigned to it. His son is full of the “at your age” warnings. And the hiking gear salesman/trail nerd (Nick Offerman, on the nose) sees him coming. No matter. Bill will get out there and see the forests, the eastern wild “while there’s still some left.”

But rounding up a peer to go with him gets nowhere, until his estranged hometown pal Katz (Nolte) gets wind of the quest. They once backpacked and bickered through Europe. But that was 40 years ago. Bygones, right? Let’s “sneak in one last adventure before it’s too late,” he growls, and Bryson agrees.

Here’s how Nolte steals the movie. He once voiced a bear in a cartoon. With good reason. He wears a fedora that could be a leftover prop from “Cannery Row,” which he filmed 30 years ago. He looks, shambles along and talks like a guy who has crawled in and out of the bottle, gargled with gravel and stopped way too many right hooks with his cheekbones. For decades.

Katz growls, grumps and slows the pair down. Every funny episode, like encountering the nerdy know-it-all (Kristen Schaal) that they then must ditch — lest she chatter-nag them to death — earns a “Can’t WAIT to read about this in the book” from Katz.

And an “I’m not WRITING a book” from Bryson.

Mary Steenburgen, every senior citizen comedy’s go-to love interest, is the twinkling owner of a trailside inn. Because that’s all this pretends to be, a codgerish-comedy. None of the profundity of “Into the Wild” or “Wild.” Whatever these two backpacking old men learn — and the puffy, pink Nolte/Katz seems to look healthier, the more miles they cover — it’s not deep.

But it is funny, and Redford, gracious as ever, makes a wonderful straight-man for a comic co-costar who has the face, voice and posture of a geezer who probably should have tackled this healing hike 20 years earlier.

MPAA Rating:R for language and some sexual references

Cast: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thomson, Mary Steenburgen, Kristen Schaal, Nick Offerman Credits: Directed by Ken Kwapis, script by Rick Kerb and Bill Holderman, based on the Bill Bryson book. A Broad Green release.

Running time: 1:44

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Review: Strong singing, dazzling visuals honor Sondheim's memory in Moonlight's 'Into the Woods'

R eviewing a show in the final days of its run is unusual for me, but I didn't make it to Moonlight Stage Productions' "Into the Woods" until Sunday because I was in New York City for two weeks, where I saw the revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd," but couldn't afford a ticket to Sondheim's "Merrily We Roll Along."

The beloved lyricist-composer, who died in 2021 at the age of 91, has once again become a hot commodity on American theater stages. Musical theater aficionados love the cleverness and humor of Sondheim's lyrics, his ever-changing tempi and the complexity of his music. One of his most popular musicals, co-written with bookwriter James Lapine, is "Into the Woods," which made its world premiere in 1986 at San Diego's The Old Globe, and returned to Broadway in 2022.

On May 1, "Into the Woods" opened a three-weekend run at the Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista. The last time the musical was presented at the outdoor theater was 23 years ago. The musical is a mashup of classic fairy tales (Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk) where the characters interact with each other but don't find their traditional happily ever afters.

Because the "Into the Woods" score is challenging, the key to a good production is having top-notch singers and musicians. That's what Moonlight has pulled off in its production, which runs through Saturday Director Steven Glaudini has fielded a very strong and funny 19-member singing cast, and music director-conductor Elan McMahan has flawlessly coached the singers and guides the 16-piece orchestra from the pit.

The reason singers love Sondheim is that his songs offer opportunities to both showcase the range of their vocal talents and to flex their acting and musical interpretation skills. Perhaps no one does this better in Moonlight's "Into the Woods" than Larry Raben, who plays the forlorn Baker, who was cursed by a witch with sterility. His sensitive and heartbreaking performance of "No More" in Act Two is the show highlight. Also outstanding is Vista native Bets Malone as the Witch, a role she has played three times before, beginning in 1990 at the Moonlight when she was in her teens. Malone is an exceptional singing actress.

Other standouts in the cast are the always-excellent Allison Spratt Pearce as the Baker's Wife; sweet-voiced singers Courtney Blanc as Cinderella and Rashaun Sibley as Jack; the hilariously quirky Steve Gunderson as the narrator and Mysterious Man; Brooke Henderson as the impulsive and bratty Little Red; and Sandy Campbell as Jack's beleaguered Mother. And Moonlight vets Evan White and David Burnham add great comic relief as the dim-brained, philandering princes.

The show features lighting by Jennifer Edwards and sound by Jordan Gray, but much of its scenic design is courtesy of Moonlight's new high-definition video wall, which is used to dazzling effect in this show, with projections designed by Blake McCarty. The 2-1/2 hour show moves more quickly without breaks to move scenery on and off stage.

"Into the Woods" kicks off Moonlight's 2024 summer season. Still to come are the La Jolla Playhouse-born Jimmy Buffett jukebox musical "Escape to Margaritaville," June 5-22; the movie-inspired "School of Rock," July 10-27; the Carole King bio-musical "Beautiful," Aug. 14-31; and the movie-based "Tootsie," Sept. 11-28.

'Into the Woods'

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday (gates open at 6:30 p.m.)

Where: Moonlight Amphitheatre, Brengle Terrace Park, 1200 Vale Terrace Drive, Vista

Tickets : $15-$60

Phone : (760) 724-2110

Online: moonlightstage.com

[email protected]

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune .

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He Took a Terrible, Horrible, No-Good 800-Mile Hike So You Don’t Have To

In “A Walk in the Park,” Kevin Fedarko recounts a trek-of-a-lifetime that becomes a nightmare in one of America’s most stunning sites. At least he can laugh about it.

The image portrays two men standing on an outcropping and looking down at the Grand Canyon. The sky is blue and streaked with clouds.

By Blair Braverman

Blair Braverman is a writer, adventurer and dog-sledder. Her most recent book is “Small Game.”

A WALK IN THE PARK: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon, by Kevin Fedarko

Maybe it’s when he’s extracting drinking water from damp sand with a syringe, trying desperately not to die from dehydration, but there came a point in “A Walk in the Park,” Kevin Fedarko’s memoir about walking the length of the Grand Canyon, that I thought: Wow, this hike is a terrible idea.

Not that this was a revelation; Fedarko says as much from the start. But I still assumed, being well versed in the rhythms of adventure stories (and the accompanying “wait-till-you-hear-how-bad-it-was” ), that a Grand Canyon hike wouldn’t be uniquely awful. I was wrong.

Fedarko grew up in Pittsburgh, in a landscape drained by coal mining and poisoned by the byproducts of industry; his family recalls the yellow mist of the Donora Death Fog, a quirk of atmospheric pressure that trapped chemical emissions over a town some 20 miles south of the city, killing at least 20 people and sickening many more. As a child visiting his grandparents, he played on hills of strip-mine waste.

But when a magazine assignment brought him to the Colorado River, he fell in love with both the Grand Canyon and the elegant wooden dories that traverse it. He uprooted his life to volunteer for a tour company, handling raw sewage on rafting expeditions in the hope of one day being promoted to the driver’s seat of a dory. As he relates one grievous mishap after another, the reader faces a dawning realization. Wait: Is this guy going to walk the whole canyon because he’s not good enough to row a boat?

Indeed — and outdoor literature is the better for it, because “A Walk in the Park” is a triumph. Fedarko doesn’t describe awe; he induces it, with page-turning action, startling insights and the kind of verbal grace that makes multipage descriptions of, say, a flock of pelicans feel riveting and new. The canyon has no established through route. It is a living oven, full of scorpions, cactuses, venomous snakes, flash floods and various other incarnations of hell on earth.

Indeed, Grand Canyon is one of the deadliest national parks, and Fedarko relates in unflinching details the list of fatalities: Various tourists plummet off viewpoints and a guy drowns while crossing rapids on an air mattress. By the time he explains how the canyon’s extreme heat can cause the proteins in human cells to “denature and congeal as if one were boiling an egg,” I wished he were a little less gifted in his descriptive powers.

Fedarko’s hiking companion is his longtime creative partner, the photographer Pete McBride. Each man “often found the other to be madly annoying,” writes Fedarko — but some of his warmest and funniest writing is about his friendship with McBride, whether they’re discovering ancient petroglyphs or wrenching pieces of cholla cactus off each other. McBride is made up of equal parts idealism and “pigheadedness.” He theorizes that they don’t need to train because “the hike itself is the thing that’s gonna get us in shape for the hike” — though Fedarko acknowledges, in a lengthy and diplomatic footnote, that his depiction of the duo’s incompetence, while not technically in accurate, may be played up for drama. That it annoys McBride, it seems, is only a side benefit.

The canyon, unlike the reader, is unamused. The prospect of death very real, these men have to get their act together or quit. Though at times they come close to their demise, a team of magnanimous experts helps them to trek on. They encounter radioactive mine sites, wild horses, pools of dead tarantulas and countless other shocks and wonders, such as a cactus that retracts into the dirt and a carnivorous mouse that howls at the moon. Along the way they, and we, meet many of the park’s stakeholders, from Indigenous activists to a professor of Euclidean numbers theory. Fedarko interweaves their stories with wry, precise distillations of natural history and incisive profiles of the investment interests that aim to squeeze wild nature into cash.

The book never shies from its paradoxes: I did this so you don’t have to; I did this because you shouldn’t; I shouldn’t have done this, but it’s good I did. By the time the men complete their yearlong hike, they’ve endured and overcome so much that they’re briefly mistaken for plane crash victims. But in truth, they, and we, are pilgrims on holy ground. Readers will be tempted to visit the canyon just to keep the book’s spell alive longer — and to feel Fedarko’s company in their awe.

A WALK IN THE PARK : The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon | By Kevin Fedarko | Scribner | 489 pp. | $32.50

Exploring the Outdoors, One Step at a Time

Hiking is a great way to immerse yourself in nature and tune out the chaos of city life. the tips below will help you get ready before you hit the trail..

Hiking offers a host of mental and physical benefits. If you’re new to it, here’s how to get started .

Fourteen years and one Apple App of the Year award in, AllTrails has become something rare: a tool that works for both experts and newbies .

Make sure you have the right gear . Wirecutter has recommendations for anything you might need — from hydration packs to trekking poles . And remember to try on hiking boots at the right time of the day .

These clever apps and devices will help you to find your way, triage an injury and generally stay out of trouble on the trail.

Planning to venture out for a nighttime hike ? Opt for wide, easy-to-navigate paths.

Experts say failing to alert family or friends of your plans is one of the biggest mistakes hikers make. Here are some more safety tips .

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2024 Horror Movies Release Dates 2024 . Nearly a decade after the first movie, pixar is returning to one of its classic properties in 2024,. Jennifer lopez, simu liu, sterling k.

A walk in the woods, 2015. The calendar update also brings new dates for a handful of other blumhouse titles.

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Kids and adults gather at a Memorial Day parade to honor and celebrate veterans in South Portland. Sofia Aldinio/ Staff Photographer

BATH 10 a.m. Monday. Parade begins at 200 Congress Ave. and concludes at Library Park and will be followed by a wreath-laying service at 11 a.m.

BERWICK 11 a.m. Monday. Parade begins at Berwick Town Hall/Sullivan Square and proceeds to Lord’s Cemetery by way of Wilson and Allen streets. After a ceremony there, the parade will continue down Saw Mill Hill Street with a pause at the Somersworth-Berwick Bridge for a brief memorial service for those lost at sea. The parade ends at Sullivan Square with a memorial service honoring area veterans.

BIDDEFORD-SACO Opening ceremony at 9:55 a.m. Monday at Saco City Hall. Parade starts at 10 a.m. from Saco City Hall and proceeds along Main Street and down York Hill into Biddeford, continues along Main Street, onto Alfred Street and finishes at Veteran’s Memorial Park with a closing ceremony at 10:45 a.m.

BRUNSWICK-TOPSHAM 9 a.m. Monday. Parade proceeds from Topsham Town Hall, pauses for observances while crossing the Brunswick-Topsham bridge, and concludes at the Brunswick Mall.

CAPE ELIZABETH 9 a.m. Monday. Parade begins at the middle school parking lot, turns right on Scott Dyer Road, right onto Route 77 and ends at the village green adjacent to the town hall. A brief ceremony and laying of the wreath will be held at the Village Green after the parade.

CUMBERLAND 8 a.m. Monday. Kids run at Greely High School followed by 5K Run and Remember race at 8:30 a.m. Parade starts at 10 a.m. at Mabel I. Wilson School and ends at the veterans’ monument in Moss Side Cemetery in Cumberland Center, where a ceremony will be held at 10:30 a.m. Advertisement

FALMOUTH 10 a.m. Monday. Parade proceeds from 65 Depot Road (Falmouth American Legion) to Pine Grove Park, where a ceremony will be held.

FREEPORT 9:30 a.m. Monday. Parade proceeds from Holbrook Street, heads north on Main and makes a right onto School Street, then right onto Park Street, ending in Memorial Park. There will be a small ceremony in Memorial Park starting at 10 a.m.

GORHAM 11 a.m. Monday. Parade starts at Village School (12 Robie St.) and ends at Eastern Cemetery on Johnson Road.

GRAY 11:30 a.m. Monday. Parade leaves the Russell School (8 Gray Park), proceeds to Shaker Road and continues to the Soldiers Monument at the intersection of Routes 26 and 3 for a wreath-laying ceremony. Parade continues north to the American Legion Post (15 Lewiston Road) for a closing ceremony.

LYMAN 1 p.m. Monday. Parade starts at Waterhouse Road/Mill Pond in Goodwins Mills and ends at the Lyman Town Hall on South Waterboro Road.

NEW GLOUCESTER 9 a.m. Monday. Parade leaves from Memorial Elementary School (86 Intervale Road) and heads down Intervale Road to Route 100/202 to Veterans Park for a memorial service. The parade will reconvene and go down Peacock Hill Road, then take a left on Gilmore Road. Advertisement

OLD ORCHARD BEACH 1 p.m. Monday. Parade starts at the corner of Ballpark Way and E. Emerson Cumming Boulevard and proceeds down Saco Avenue, Old Orchard Beach Street to First Street and ends at Veteran’s Memorial Park.

PORTLAND 2 p.m. Monday. The procession starts at Longfellow School (432 Stevens Ave.) and ends at Evergreen Cemetery for a commemoration ceremony.

SANFORD 10 a.m. Monday. The parade starts at the Sanford Armory (88 William Oscar Emery Drive), proceeds up Gowen Park Drive and ends at Central Park.

SCARBOROUGH 10 a.m. Monday. Parade starts at Scarborough High School, turns onto Route 114 and then Route 1, past town offices to the Maine Veterans Home and concludes with a ceremony there.

SOUTH PORTLAND 10:30 a.m. Monday. Parade starts at Southern Maine Community College parking lot, proceeds down Broadway to the Veterans Monument for a short Memorial Day recognition service.

WELLS 9 a.m. Monday. Parade starts at Wells High School (200 Sanford Road) and proceeds to Ocean View Cemetery for a ceremony and musical performances. Advertisement

WESTBROOK 10 a.m. Monday. Parade proceeds down Main Street and will be followed by a ceremony in Riverbank Park.

WINDHAM 9 a.m. Monday. Parade starts at Windham Town Hall and proceeds onto Route 202 toward Windham High School. At 10 a.m., there will be a ceremony in front of Windham’s Veterans Memorial Flagpole at Windham High School.

YARMOUTH 10 a.m. Monday. Parade leaves from Yarmouth High School (286 West Elm St.) and proceeds to the Memorial Green at Town Hall for a ceremony.

YORK 10 a.m. Monday. Parade starts near St. Christopher’s Church (4 Barrell Lane) and proceeds down York Street to York Town Hall.

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IMAGES

Movie Review: A Walk In The Woods (2015)
Robert Redford & Nick Nolte
A Walk in the Woods Movie Review
A Walk in the Woods (2015) Movie Photos and Stills
Review: Film ‘A Walk in the Woods’ is a slightly more serious diversion
A Walk in the Woods (2015) Movie Review

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A Walk in the Woods: California Woods Nature Preserve, Cincinnati, OH
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Walk in the woods
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COMMENTS

A Walk in the Woods movie review (2015)
Redford, who is also a producer, initially planned on reteaming with buddy Paul Newman a decade or so ago when he began to piece together this project based on Bill Bryson's humor-filled 1998 account of his misadventures while hiking the 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail. A reunion with his sparring partner in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "The Sting," halted by Newman's ...
A Walk in the Woods (2015)
Amiable yet less compelling than any road trip movie starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte should be, A Walk in the Woods is ultimately a bit too pedestrian. Travel writer Bill Bryson (Robert ...
Review: 'A Walk in the Woods,' With Robert Redford, Is a Scenic Trek
Directed by Ken Kwapis. Adventure, Biography, Comedy, Drama. R. 1h 44m. By Manohla Dargis. Sept. 1, 2015. There's a scene in "A Walk in the Woods," a low-impact amble through hill, dale and ...
A Walk in the Woods
A Walk in the Woods is a big-hearted, endlessly funny and just plain likable survivalist-buddy-road-trip-comedy-drama that also has something to say. Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 7 ...
A Walk in the Woods Movie Review
Parents need to know that A Walk in the Woods is a dramedy -- based on Bill Bryson's nonfiction book -- about two older men (played by Robert Redford and Nick Nolte) who decide to hike the Appalachian Trail.Language is the biggest issue, with frequent uses of "f--k" and "s--t," as well as strong sexual references/innuendo and stories of sexual exploits.
A Walk in the Woods (film)
A Walk in the Woods has received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds a rating of 47%, based on 167 reviews, with an average rating of 5.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Amiable yet less compelling than any road trip movie starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte should be, A Walk in the Woods is ultimately ...
A Walk in the Woods (2015)
A Walk in the Woods: Directed by Ken Kwapis. With Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Mary Steenburgen. After spending two decades in England, Bill Bryson (Robert Redford) returns to the U.S., where he decides the best way to connect with his homeland is to hike the Appalachian Trail with one of his oldest friends, Stephen Katz (Nick Nolte).
A Walk in the Woods
Travel writer Bill Bryson (Robert Redford), instead of retiring to enjoy his loving and beautiful wife (Emma Thompson) and large and happy family, challenges himself to hike the Appalachian Trail - 2,200 miles of America's most unspoiled, spectacular and rugged countryside from Georgia to Maine. The peace and tranquility he hopes to find, though, is anything but, once he agrees to being ...
A Walk in the Woods (2015)
Based on the 1998 book/memoir of the same name by Bill Bryson, 'A Walk in the Woods' is a sweet, simple & uncomplicated film, that turns out to be nice fun. Its also supremely well-acted, although that barely comes as a surprise, since the performers on-screen are legends. 'A Walk in the Woods' Synopsis: After spending two decades in England ...
[WATCH] 'A Walk In The Woods' Review: Redford & Nolte Comedy
A Walk In The Woods with Robert Redford and Nick Nolte is a broad comedy and a touching rumination on aging and living life to the fullest. [WATCH] 'A Walk In The Woods' Review: Redford & Nolte Comedy
Movie Review: 'A Walk in the Woods'
Movie Review: 'A Walk in the Woods'. By AINARA TIEFENTHÄLER • September 3, 2015. The Times critic Manohla Dargis reviews "A Walk in the Woods.".
Movie Review
A Walk in the Woods, 2015. Directed by Ken Kwapis. Starring Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Kristen Schaal and Mary Steenburgen. SYNOPSIS: A semi-retired celebrated travel writer ...
A Walk in the Woods
This movie, on the other hand, is not very much like church at all. Because as primed as I am to like movies like A Walk in the Woods—as much as it might make me want to take a couple of months off to hike through the mountains of Colorado—there's more to movies than just vibe. (Or even having fun laughing at Robert Redford trying to make ...
'A Walk in the Woods' movie review
When Bill Bryson's travelogue "A Walk in the Woods" came out in 1998, it landed almost instantly on the New York Times bestseller list. The word of mouth was epidemic: This book is hilarious. Now ...
A Walk In The Woods Review
A Walk In The Woods Review. Writer Bill Bryson (Redford) decides to rediscover America by walking the 2,100 mile Appalachian Trail with old school friend Katz (Nolte). Two 70-plus boys trekking ...
'A Walk in the Woods' review: Robert Redford's fallen and he can't get
It's a good walk spoiled. "A Walk in the Woods". Grade: D-plus. Rating: R. Running time: 98 minutes. Playing at: Opens Wednesday, Sept. 2. Cast and crew: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson ...
A Walk In The Woods Official Movie Review
A Walk In The Woods, starring Robert Redford, Emma Thompson, and Kristen Schaal is reviewed by Ben Mankiewicz (Turner Classic Movies), Matt Atchity (Rotten T...
Review: How 'A Walk in the Woods' lost its way
As "A Walk in the Woods" opens, Robert Redford, playing author Bill Bryson, suffers through a morning talk-show appearance. He smiles and nods and vaguely agrees with the clueless host without ...
Walk in the Woods, A
A movie review by James Berardinelli. A couple of old guys taking a walk on the Appalachian Trail - it doesn't sound like a winning motion picture formula and, as it turns out, it isn't. Like all road trip movies, the success (or lack thereof) of A Walk in the Woods relies heavily on the chemistry between the two leads, in this case Robert ...
Movie Review: A Walk In The Woods
A Walk in the Woods stars Robert Redford as real-life travel writer Bill Bryson, who intends to hike the 2,100-mile-plus Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, against the objections of his ...
A Walk in the Woods Is a Trail Not Worth Traveling
The lax, lame A Walk in the Woods is a road movie without a road, a journey of self-discovery without discovery, and a tale of friendship without any chemistry. Based on travel writer Bill Bryson ...
A Walk in the Woods
About this movie. Starring Robert Redford, Nick Nolte and Emma Thompson, A Walk in the Woods is a hilarious and touching comedy based on the book by celebrated travel writer Bill Bryson. Reluctant to settle into retirement, Bryson (Redford) challenges himself to hike the legendary Appalachian Trail over 2,100 miles through some of the most ...
Movie Review: "A Walk in the Woods"
Movie Review: "A Walk in the Woods". They're just a couple of sway-backed, high-mileage actors, each a dozen years older than their characters and showing it. They cuss and fuss and reminisce and make all the same mistakes Reese Witherspoon's character made in "Wild.". And then some. The annoying "trail mate" shows up at the ...
Review: Strong singing, dazzling visuals honor Sondheim's memory in
Reviewing a show in the final days of its run is unusual for me, but I didn't make it to Moonlight Stage Productions' "Into the Woods" until Sunday because I was in New York City for two weeks ...
'A Walk in the Park' Review: Grand Canyon Odyssey
An attempt to walk the full length of the Grand Canyon meant encounters with mountain lions, snakes and lots of cliffs. Among the numberless dreams animating the world's numberless bucket lists ...
Book Review: 'A Walk in the Park,' by Kevin Fedarko
A WALK IN THE PARK: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon | By Kevin Fedarko | Scribner | 489 pp. | $32.50 Share full article Exploring the Outdoors, One Step at a Time
2024 Horror Movies Release Dates 2024
M3Gan 2.0 Is Now Premiering One Month Later Than Planned, Moving From May 16,. Iowa State Track Schedule 2024 Calendar. 2024 Horror Movies Release Dates 2024. Nearly a decade after the first movie, pixar is returning to one of its classic properties in 2024,. Jennifer lopez, simu liu, sterling k. A walk in the woods, 2015.
Observe Memorial Day with these events in southern Maine
Kids and adults gather at a Memorial Day parade to honor and celebrate veterans in South Portland. Sofia Aldinio/ Staff Photographer. BATH. 10 a.m. Monday. Parade begins at 200 Congress Ave. and ...

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