Striding along the Appalachian Trail through the woods with Redford (as Bill Bryson) is Nick Nolte (Bryson’s lost mate Stephen Katz), another 70-something playing a man 30 years younger. At least Nolte doesn’t wear a rug. Indeed, it seems he hasn’t even brushed his hair since his infamously disheveled mug shot. In some ways he’s ideal for the part of the washed-up old drunk. Let’s just say that it isn’t much of a stretch of his formerly impressive acting abilities.
At first glance, Redford’s aging 40-something impression seemed like a self-conscious and clever parody. But as the film progressed it quickly dawned that this was a film with no sense of the absurd. Indeed, Bryson’s supposed oldest 20-something son is played by an actor who seems in his 40s while his other kids are about 5 and 10 with supposedly another on the way. If this was supposed to make Redford seem virile it just highlighted how past-it Redford and Nolte really are.
Bill Bryson’s original autobiographical book on which the movie is based was part slapstick, part observational humour, part travel diary and part self-help. While a Walk in the Woods is a comedy of sorts, it is barely funny. What is supposed to be a voyage of self-discovery, just highlights how delusional Robert Redford really is.
