a walk in the woods movie review nytimes

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Theater Review

Fresh Air Will Do You Good When Warding Off Armageddon

By Ken Jaworowski

• Sept. 30, 2014

There’s no good reason to revive “A Walk in the Woods,” but there’s a good reason to see it: Kathleen Chalfant. Playing a wily Soviet diplomat, she is given the best moments in this mild two-character drama, and she’s always wonderful to watch.

Loosely based on a real event, “Woods” finds an American negotiator and his Soviet counterpart during arms treaty talks in Geneva. To break the monotony of their indoor meetings, the two take a series of open-air strolls together.

Soon they’re discussing history and nuclear warfare. The script, by Lee Blessing, looks to shrink giant issues to a manageable size, and, unsurprisingly, have each individual learn a little from the other.

“As a piece of theater,” the play “is the aesthetic equivalent of Switzerland,” Frank Rich wrote in The New York Times about the 1988 Broadway production. True. Despite the enormous topic, there’s only a light dusting of tension onstage, and few surprises. Still, the talk is consistently smart and interesting; this is not a play to love, yet it’s certainly one to like.

Time is the script’s worst enemy. Remember the unbearable stress of the SALT talks? Me, either. Atomic weapons remain an immense concern, but after the fall of the Soviet Union and the upheavals after Sept. 11, Communist aggression is hardly the most pressing worry.

As Irina Botvinnik, Ms. Chalfant is a study in poise. The role, originally written for a man, has been modified slightly, to no detriment. The Soviet’s strategy, like that of a “Godot” character — wait, delay, avoid despair — is expertly conveyed when Ms. Chalfant is speaking or only listening.

The American operative, John Honeyman, resists complexity until the end, when exasperation creeps into his bearing. Paul Niebanck handles the scene well. Jonathan Silverstein directs this 100-minute show.

“A Walk in the Woods” is now noteworthy as a study of how our threats have changed, and what has been gained and lost since the Cold War. (Mr. Blessing’s sequel, “A View of the Mountains,” had its premiere this year.) Granted, you could explore such changes by reading old newspapers. But then you wouldn’t see Ms. Chalfant onstage. That would be your loss.

“A Walk in the Woods” continues through Oct. 18 at the Clurman Theater, Theater Row, 410 West 42nd Street, Clinton; 212-239-6200, keencompany.org.

A Walk in the Woods

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.

• Robert Redford as Bill Bryson
• Kristen Schaal as Mary Ellen
• Emma Thompson as Catherine Bryson
• Nick Nolte as Katz
• Nick Offerman as REI Dave
• Bill Bryson
• Bill Holderman

Cinematography

• John Bailey

Leave a comment

Now playing.

Daddy’s Head

Terrifier 3

Falling Stars

Lonely Planet

We Live in Time

Piece by Piece

Saturday Night

The Apprentice

Latest articles.

When You’re Angry, You’re Already Losing: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson on “Rumours”

Chicago International Film Festival 2024 Preview

30 Minutes On: Talk Radio

Netflix’s “Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft” Gives Life to Iconic Character

The best movie reviews, in your inbox.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

• About Rotten Tomatoes®
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening This Week
• Top Box Office
• Coming Soon to Theaters
• Certified Fresh Movies

Movies at Home

• Fandango at Home
• Prime Video
• Most Popular Streaming Movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• 76% Terrifier 3 Link to Terrifier 3
• 79% The Apprentice Link to The Apprentice
• 82% The Outrun Link to The Outrun

New TV Tonight

• 90% Rivals: Season 1
• -- Shrinking: Season 2
• -- Hysteria!: Season 1
• -- Happy's Place: Season 1
• -- American Horror Stories: Season 3
• -- Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage: Season 1
• -- The Lincoln Lawyer: Season 3
• -- Tracker: Season 2
• -- The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh: Season 1

Most Popular TV on RT

• 81% Disclaimer: Season 1
• 92% Sweetpea: Season 1
• 94% The Penguin: Season 1
• 83% Agatha All Along: Season 1
• 76% Teacup: Season 1
• 94% Nobody Wants This: Season 1
• 78% Citadel: Diana: Season 1
• 100% Outer Banks: Season 4
• 100% From: Season 3
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV

Certified fresh pick

• 80% Disclaimer: Season 1 Link to Disclaimer: Season 1
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

50 Best New Horror Movies of 2024

46 Christmas Horror Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Awards Tour

Movie Re-Release Calendar 2024 & 2025: Your Guide to Movies Back In Theaters

June Squibb Recounts Baring it All for Her Craft and Popping Wheelies in Thelma for the Awards Tour Podcast

• Trending on RT
• Spooky Season
• Free Movies on Tubi
• TV Premiere Dates
• Halloween Programming Guide

A Walk in the Woods

Where to watch.

Watch A Walk in the Woods with a subscription on Prime Video, rent on Fandango at Home, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Apple TV.

What to Know

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.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Robert Redford

Bill Bryson

Stephen Katz

Emma Thompson

Catherine Bryson

Mary Steenburgen

Nick Offerman

More Like This

Related movie news.

‘A Walk in the Woods’ Review: Robert Redford and Nick Nolte Take a Hike, Forced Wackiness Ensues

Two old codgers get a crazy idea that leads exactly where you would expect in Bill Bryson’s adapted memoir

If you think man-crack is the apex of hilarity, “A Walk in the Woods” just might be the movie for you. It’s all right there in the trailers: slapstick, womp-womp one-liners, the premise of old buddies going on an adventure. See some moon or your money back!

So it’s surprising when the opening minutes show promise, thanks to an incredibly preserved Robert Redford,  who plays accomplished travel writer Bill Bryson. Even more of a surprise is learning that this film is based on a memoir. While you’re viewing the film — and guessing at the next moment of hijinks — you imagine the studio had a lot of notes.

Either that, or the real Bryson has lived a sitcom life. After attending a funeral, Bill goes for a walk and is inspired to hike the Appalachian Trail, a trip on which concerned wife ( Emma Thompson ) insists that he take a friend. Both at the funeral and in the opening scene — Bill’s trying to survive a torturous television interview — Redford’s facial expressions and quips convey genuine wit and humor. He soon goes head-to-head with Nick Offerman ‘s hiking gear salesman; another joke lands. Maybe this won’t be so bad.

Once Nick Nolte , as Bill’s college friend Stephen, shows up to join him on the hike, expectations plummet. Stephen is a cartoon: he talks as if his mouth were full of cotton; he limps off the plane and then tells Bill he needs to eat every hour or else he’ll get seizures. The beginning of their trip is a joke (but not the kind of joke this movie needs), with Katz huffing and puffing, barely able to walk, and needing to rest after a quarter-mile.

So where does director Ken Kwapis (“He’s Just Not That Into You”) and a trio of writers (one uncredited) take them from there? In last year’s Oscar-nominated “Wild,” flashbacks were effectively used to break up the protagonist’s hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. But “A Walk in the Woods” decides to go for — nay, strain for — antics. You can hear the brainstorming: What can we have happen to them? Bears, for one. Falling into a creek, definitely. Getting caught in snow and rainstorms. Umm … how about making a woman’s husband ragingly jealous of Katz?

Yes, Katz, who meets said woman in a laundromat while wearing garbage bags and looking like the red-faced aftermath into which Nolte can easily transform. She flirts first, of course.

Let’s talk about the woman’s size for a moment. She’s big. She’s really big. And that makes her a target for mockery, with Katz effectively saying he’s the only guy who’d want to sleep with her. Previously, Katz remarked that their waitress, another woman of size, was attractive. No insult followed, but it was meant to reflect the film’s notion that he’s got a profoundly skewed vision of the world. And Katz’s own fatness is mined for laughs: He’s on the top bunk, look out!

Needless to say, most of these moments — particularly the joke about how no one’s likely attracted to Laundromat Lady — are mean-spirited in a film that seems out for innocent goofs. If such details are in Bryson’s memoir, well, the guy’s a jerk. After that ugliness, “A Walk in the Woods” needed only one more pratfall to officially fail.

Redford’s Bill (whom Katz calls “Bryson”) at least comes off like a realistic person, and he still earns a laugh or two after the trek begins. But Katz is lazily drawn: all those vulnerabilities and impediments disappear after the yuks have been wrung out of them. He’s magically a real live man! And boy, is Nolte’s dialogue (here’s hoping it wasn’t improv) unnatural: When you’re with an old pal, do you use his or her name in every sentence? “Well, Bryson…” “The thing is, Bryson…” “Hey Bryson?” (as if anyone else is within hearing distance). Once you notice it, you can’t stop noticing it.

Even the wackiest comedies can’t be wacky all the time, though. And you can see this film’s big-picture lesson coming an Appalachian Trail away. Then again, that man-crack was telegraphed, too.

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.

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

A Walk in the Woods

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 ... Read all 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). 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).

• Michael Arndt
• Bill Holderman
• Bill Bryson
• Robert Redford
• Emma Thompson
• 206 User reviews
• 169 Critic reviews
• 51 Metascore
• 1 nomination

Top cast 56

• Stephen Katz

• Catherine Bryson

• Young Hiker #1
• Young Hiker #2

• Granddaughter

• (as Sandra Lafferty)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

• Trivia The book "A Walk in the Woods" was optioned in 1998 as a project to team Robert Redford and Paul Newman together for the third time. However, years of hurdles getting this movie made and Newman's declining health before his death in 2008 ended the potential Redford and Newman reunion. Newman was intended for the role of Stephen Katz.
• Goofs The map shown in the shelter is very inaccurate. It does not show the Appalachian Trail passing through West Virginia, New Jersey, or Connecticut. It also reverses New Hampshire and Vermont.

Bill Bryson : [At night, when a female hiker is loudly singing, in an annoying tone, at a late hour] Tomorrow morning, we get up early, before she's awake, and we get a headstart, and lose her.

Stephen Katz : That's a good idea. Better than my idea.

Bill Bryson : What was your idea?

Stephen Katz : We kill her, and steal her Pop Tarts.

• Connections Referenced in Half in the Bag: The Visit and Turbo Kid (2015)
• Soundtracks She Lit a Fire Written by Ben Schneider & Brett Farkas Performed by Lord Huron Courtesy of Iamsound Records By arrangement with Terrorbird Media

User reviews 206

• Jun 17, 2021
• How long is A Walk in the Woods? Powered by Alexa
• When does the hike take place?
• September 2, 2015 (United States)
• United States
• Official Facebook
• Official site
• Hayatımın Yolculuğu
• Fontana Dam, North Carolina, USA
• Route One Entertainment
• Wildwood Enterprises
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $8,000,000 (estimated)
• $29,504,281
• Sep 6, 2015
• $37,461,274

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 44 minutes
• Dolby Digital

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• See more gaps
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed.