A Walk in the Woods

A Walk in the Woods

There’s only one question you need to ask yourself before seeing “A Walk in the Woods“: Can you tolerate sitting through a completely predictable, rather mild man vs. nature ramble in order to enjoy the amiable odd-couple chemistry between Robert Redford and Nick Nolte?

Certainly, it’s hard to pass up a rare chance to watch these grizzled septuagenarians go at it with vigor especially since Redford and Nolte were cast mates but once before, in the barely seen 2013 political thriller “The Company You Keep.” Now, the ruggedly handsome star of “North Dallas Forty” more closely resembles a ruddy-faced Yeti, while the still-fit Sundance Kid is paying for all that ultraviolet glare on the slopes. But these guys still know how not just to 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 wanted to reteam with buddy Paul Newman when he first started putting together this adaptation of Bill Bryson’s humor-filled 1998 account of his misadventures hiking the 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail. A reunion with his sparring partner from “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “The Sting,” cut short by Newman’s death in ’08, would have been quite something. But gravel voiced Nolte and smooth talking Redford do just fine as a mismatched pair of fellow travelers.

The feminist in me wanted to bash “A Walk in the Woods,” directed as typically middle of the road fare by Ken Kwapis (“He’s Just Not That Into You”) and unfortunately prone to telegraphing almost every laugh. On what grounds? That both leads are at least 30 years too old for their roles; Bryson and his estranged reprobate pal Stephen Katz were 44 in the book.

Would Hollywood have allowed, say, Shirley MacLaine and Debbie Reynolds to headline “Bridemaids”? But then I remembered Reese Witherspoon in last year’s “Wild” was more than 10 years older than the real Cheryl Strayed, who was 26 when she hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. Besides, star power knows no expiration date; without these venerable seniors as its main attraction, “A Walk in the Woods” might have been unwatchable.

While solo Witherspoon in her Oscar-nominated role struggled with her inner demons about as much as she did the elements, “A Walk in the Woods” is more concerned with two unlikely acquaintances crossing paths again after a long-ago falling out drove their relationship apart. Redford’s wry Bryson a popular travelogue writer who’s 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 when he spots a marker forthe Georgia to Maine trail near his New Hampshire home.

In opposition to his sensible British wife’s wish (played by Emma Thompson, who is unfortunately not used as much as she could be), he decides on a whim to attempt this marathon of endurance and chooses Katz to accompany him largely because none of his other friends are crazy enough to say yes. Based in Bryson’s home state of Iowa, Katz claims that the reason he has volunteered to huff and puff over hill and dale is the fact that he has several outstanding warrants against him. But when this recovering alcoholic and unrepentant womanizer looks around at the tributes and accolades piled up in Bryce’s den, it becomes clear that Katz is also looking for some kind of reconnection.

At first, things move rather slowly given that Nolte’s wheezy scalawag can barely stagger off a small airplane. Bryson may be a thinker and Katz may be a talker, but there are few deep revelations or bouts of philosophizing along the way here; instead, amusing incidents, encounters and mishaps pile up as the two men fill each other in on their personal histories. Fair warning: There is an R-rated abundance of salty language hereabouts, with Bryson inclined to express what a bear does in the woods and Katz being fond of employing the F-word without compunction when necessary as well as non-explicit frisky business implied.

On occasion, Kwapis will slip in a shot of scenic splendor by way of reminder where we are; bears will put in a cameo; other such natural hazards making appearances include rain, snow mud and slippery slopes. And then there are annoyances of the human variety. Kristen Schaal is comfortably within her comedy wheelhouse as a pushy chatterbox hiker who likes to flaunt her superior knowledge three-season tents even as she tries to tag along with Bryce and Katz; her appearance conveniently serves as bonding agent for men after they conspire to ditch her.

Even after granting the age discrepancy issue an indulgent pass, there were still moments when I found myself involuntarily recoiling at how every woman onscreen exists simply to serve the needs of the central male characters. I suppose it makes sense that Katz, as played by Nolte, has a Neanderthal’s notion of women, which he reveals in a speech about romantic options ugly sister (being slutty is No. 1).

Being inveterate chubby chaser, his need crack suggestive pancake remarks plus size waitress topped only by his laundromat encounter over pair pink panties snagged washer with local whom he describes as “a beautiful body buried under 200 pounds of fat.” Meanwhile, Bryce flirts pas de deux with Mary Steenburgen’s roadside motel proprietress but does not stray much to horndog chagrin.

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