Posted on 01/24/2015 12:37:42 PM PST by EveningStar
A Walk in the Woods is a film adaptation of Bill Bryson's 1998 book. It stars Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. Redford, who is also one of the producers, had originally hoped for the late Paul Newman to be his co-star.
The film is drawing mixed reviews.
Favorable - Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter
Unfavorable - Dennis Harvey, Variety
Unfavorable - Kyle Smith, New York Post
Unfavorable - Daniel Fienberg, HitFix
I think it was filmed in Georgia.
A ton of stuff has been filmed in New Mexico lately. The scenes of the Taliban firefight in the mountains in “Lone Survivor” were filmed about 6 miles from my house.
Agreed. The book was laugh out loud in spots. On the other hand it doesn’t surprise me that Hollywood turns a decent book into something unwatchable
An actor and his role are two different things.
I enjoyed Redford in the Horse Whisperer: unlike the book, he refused to sleep with the mother because her husband was decent.
That said, I don’t watch most of his films. Most of the “preachy” leftist ones don’t get shown overseas, where people prefer decent action in their plots.
At one point the crew trespassed on Land Grant land in Chilili. I think I’d rather fight the Taliban... and Squantos probably agrees with me!
“”Anything with Robert Redford is hard to watch, in my opinion. I never understood his popularity.””
Speaking as a woman, we watched because of his looks. That wouldn’t be true today. How could he have aged so horribly?
“”He was good in Little Fauss, Big Halsy, and in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, both released about 45 years ago.””
I don’t know about the first two but yes, Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and don’t forget The Sting..........
He walked sections of the trail with an old friend of his, but did not attempt to walk the entire trail.
One through hiker who has walked the entire trail several times is J. R. Tate, whose trail name is Model T. His book about his first through-hike, Walking on the Happy Side of Misery, is excellent...one of those books it is hard to put down once you start reading. I haven't hiked the trail myself but I think Tate probably does a better job of conveying what the experience is like. He certainly has the credentials.
It is about his walk of the Appalachian Trail, except he didn’t walk most of it.
He did make one good point. In the States Americans make much of having the trail in wilderness, and seeing little of civilized life, while in Europe, trails connect towns and pubs and one can hike from place to place.
Thanks for the heads-up on Tate’s book. I’ll check it out.
I thought that looked familiar.....:o)
Came out of there with more holes than I was born with one night. As you said ......not a place to be caught when the sun goes down.
Stay Safe Slim !!!
The book is delightful.
If you’ve ever hiked the AT [or done any other grand-scale hiking]...Bryson’s accounts are spot on...and humorous to boot.
Sounds as if this movie falls into the category of the type of film that fails the spirit of the book....as *The Big Year* did. Fun book, terrible film....any movie with Owen Wilson is a fail. [Whoever told him he could act?]
He has a website: modelt.homestead.com
According to that, he has done four through hikes (1990, 1994, 1998, and 2006). He's a retired Marine officer. It's thought that only a dozen or so people have done 4 or more through hikes of the Appalachian Trail.
Robert Redford AND Owen Wilson? Umgud!
Shoot me now!
Looking for something free to watch on Amazon Prime, I settled for "All is Lost" starring Redford and not another soul. He barely utters a dozen words throughout the film. It was outstanding.
He's 78 for crying out loud.
Well no for a while he took a buddy of his I think his name was Charlie. Fat and out of shape but a real hoot. I think the casting in this movie was so wrong. They should have cast the fat buddy as that guy who was in Lake Placid and had the helicopter and swam with the crocs. He would have been perfect and then some guy that can do straight and funny like Owen Wilson or Vince Vaughn. Redford and Nolte are way too old.
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