A Walk In The Woods Film Review

I went to see A Walk In The Woods last night at the cinema.  Normally the thought of two old guys hiking through the American wilderness would not be top of my list of films to watch at the cinema, but the film is based on the book of the same name by Bill Bryson which I read years ago and thoroughly enjoyed, so I thought I would give it a go.

I am really glad I did.  The film recounts Bills trip along the Appalachian trail in the eastern United States which is 2200 miles long.  It starts off with a jaded Bill doing the morning talk show circuit plugging a special edition set of his previous books based on his travels in various countries around the world (I would definitely recommend these books by the way, including Notes from a Small Island recounting his trip around Britain).  Bill (played by Robert Redford) is fed up with life and hasn’t written anything more than the foreword in a book for over 4 years.   After the death of an acquaintance he suddenly gets the idea to walk the Appalachian Trail, much to the consternation and disapproval of his English wife (she tells him that she doesn’t think he is too old, she knows he is too old).  She helpfully prints loads of articles from the internet detailing all the people who have died out on the trail and how to prevent bear attacks and finally concedes that he can only go if he has a companion for safety’s sake.

After making loads of phone calls to friends he hasn’t spoken to for years, he finally gets a call from Katz (Nick Nolte) who offers to come along for the ride.  It appears that Bill and Katz stopped being friends years ago after travelling around Europe and Katz still owes Bill $600 from that trip.  Desperate times call for desperate measures and Bill agrees to let Katz accompany him. 

Turns out Katz is in worse shape than Bill and it's going to be hard going for two out of shape old guys, but walk the trail they do and the film recounts the many hilarious and dangerous encounters they have along the way.

It’s definitely worth a trip to the cinema and maybe it will encourage you to read one of Bill Bryson’s many entertaining books as well.

Let me know what you think of this film.

Leighlee