A Walk In The Woods

This movie may contain spoilers!

Once you get past the boring, stale quality of the film you enjoy the heart at the centre of the story. I would give A Walk In The Woods a 6/10.

What this film had going for it was a genuinely heartwarming story about two estranged friends managing to connect again; recounting their past and accepting truths about their present was some of the most genuinely good stuff about this film.

Robert Redford, who played Bill Bryson, was a great main protagonist; the determination we got from him as well as the humour that began to naturally emerge from him as the film went on was quite a joy to see onscreen. Mary Steenburgen, who played Jeannie, was a very grounded role; I liked how kind she was and the immediate chemistry she had with Redford.

However the best performance came from Nick Nolte, who played Stephen Katz. Nolte was erratic in this film, his character was full ob bumbling antics and funny quips that really brought the film up. His loneliness and very true friendship towards Bryson, as well as Nolte's chemistry with Redford, was just some of the best stuff in the film. Ultimately the subplot around the alcoholism that Nolte had to portray was the most engaging aspect of the film and it ended in a very powerful way.

This film was slow, the story just dragged on for ages without really seeming to know what it was trying to say. More often than not a gag or funny scene was put in the film for what seemed to be the sake of it, worse than this the themes of the film weren't powerful or stressed upon enough. The cinematography was poor work, we were given some great scenic shots here and there but they were few and far between. The editing didn't aid this at all, in fact the cutting was quite simple and concise. The soundtrack was more dull than anything else, and the score wasn't really there to speak of.

Emma Thompson, who played Catherine Bryson, is a very dry actress to watch; she fails to put much emotion or soul into her role. Kristen Schaal, who played Mary Ellen, is this goofy nut bar character that felt completely out of place in the film; her entire persona was like something out of a cheap American comedy.