Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods I think is on the bookshelf of every outdoorsy 50-something man in America-- well, it's at least on my dad's shelf. The author's memoir is ostensibly about his walking trip along the 2,100 mile Appalachian Trail, reconnecting with the United States after years living abroad, but the most memorable narrative of the book is apparently the relationship between Bryson and his hiking companion Katz, a childhood friend and former drug addict who has let himself go to the point that Bryson describes him as "Orson Welles after a very bad night."
It sounds like the makings of a crunchy middle-aged man buddy comedy, and you're not going to believe which two actors could make it come to the screen. According to a Los Angeles Times, Robert Redford is considering playing Bryson, while Nick Nolte could play the old friend Katz. Of course, Redford has been talking up this project since early 2008, and he was saying back then it might be his next project, even though he went on to direct The Conspirator again. The Times also wonders about what I wrote about yesterday, the Jackie Robinson biopic that Redford had been attached to, but with a press release yesterday that didn't mention him. The Times thinks Redford will find a way to make it work, and also fit A Walk in the Woods in there too.
Of course, it's not Redford who will be the main appeal of the movie-- it's Nolte, an unpredictable but still plenty talented actor who has popped up in a handful of comedies in the last few years, like Arthur and Tropic Thunder, that prove how much he can liven up a film even in a brief appearance. I'd love to see him and Redford go toe-to-toe out in the wilderness, and hope that Redford's constantly busy schedule doesn't prevent this movie from coming together with Nolte still on board.
