By Valor Gosch
Staff Writer
Starting off as a fresh breath of air, “A Walk In The Woods” begins to taper off until it eventually, the film hits a disappointing half-way stall. From director Ken Kwapis, A walk In The woods is an interesting but shaky film that strays away from the director’s usual style.
Released on September 2nd and staring what would have been considered an all star cast thirty years ago, “A Walk In The Woods” shows promise for the veteran actors returning from their hiatus.
With more and more funerals for friends occurring and old age relentlessly approaching, a fading writer attempts to go on one last great adventure, hiking the Appalachian trail with a colleague he had neglected for many years. All the while, he questions his purpose in the future.
While well known actors were advertised for the film such as Nick Offerman, the opportunity was sadly squandered due to limited time on screen and underused talent. However the two main leads both did an excellent job, especially Nick Nolte as Katz and Bill Bryson (Robert Redford).
The film itself does a great job of creating relatable and likeable characters that come from two different parallels of life. The film demonstrates the differences of the lead’s lifestyles while still keeping a common thread attached to the two characters of wanderlust and personal fears All of which I believed made for hilarious situations that helped save the film from mediocrity.
There are a few downsides to the film, the addition of a confusing and conflicting scene which involved the out of place Redford character and a women which he flirted with and it was made out to be a romance scene to never be referenced of again. which contributing anything to character or development and plot structure .
The best performance was the portrayal of Katz (Nick Nolte) who did a spectacular job of portraying a character with a serious medical condition. He’s extremely run down by the poor conditions he’s faced with, which makes him all the more entertaining because of the absurdity he puts to the tragedy.
The cinematography in the film is extremely well shot utilizing the scenery of the Appalachian trail to its advantage to showcasing the contrasting beauty of America’s natural and manmade forms.
A Walk In The Woods, despite its many faults, compensates for them by delivering a meaningful experience which it managed to pull off albiet sloppily.The film set out to be a preachy inspirational movie about age and how it does not define one’s capabilities.
A Walk In the woods was released on September 2nd 2015.
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