Movies about older people don’t have to be sad, pedantic or even nostalgic.  A Walk in the Woods is a darned funny tale of two men challenging the Appalachian Trail, just because.  When those two men are Robert Redford and Nick Nolte, anything becomes a possibility.

Ken Kwapis directs this story, which is based on travel writer Bill Bryson’s book.  Bryson and his buddy Steven Katz were in their forties when they took to the trail; here, Redford and Nolte are in their seventies, which certainly alters the tone, if not the meat, of the story into a different direction.  But not having read the book, I don’t care.  The movie, while certainly no masterpiece, is quite an enjoyable tale.

Redford and Nolte have good chemistry.  So do Redford and Emma Thompson; Redford and Mary Steenburgen; Nolte and Susan McPhail; it’s that kind of movie.  The script (by Rick Kerb and Bill Holderman) is both wise and funny without resorting to either preachiness or crudity. The photography is outstanding and, of course, so is the scenery.

As I said, this is no masterpiece — it isn’t serious or profound enough for that, but it is very entertaining, and that is enough.  So sit back, pass the popcorn and enjoy this one.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  5 September 2015.