Redford & Nolte Take A Hike That I Liked In A WALK IN THE WOODS

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A WALK IN THE WOODS (Dir. Ken Kwapis, 2015)



Many critics have been dumping on this movie (it’s at 52% on the Rotten Tomatometer), but I found it be a fairly charming, pleasant, and mildly amusing experience. Admittedly, it’s a corny, predictable, and lightweight mash-up of GRUMPY OLD MEN and WILD, but its leads, Robert Redford and Nick Nolte, play off each other well and generate a lot of warmth together.

Redford, who co-produced, plays author Bill Bryson in this adaptation of the acclaimed travel writer’s 1998 book “A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail,” and despite the fact that Bryson was in his mid ‘40s when he made the hike while Redford is nearing 80, it’s a role that I had no trouble going along with.

Growing more and more restless in his retirement, as we can see from an awkward TV talk show appearance and an even more uncomfortable moment at a friend’s funeral, Redford’s Bryson is itching for a new adventure. While taking a walk after the funeral, Bryson stumbles upon a section of the Appalachian Trail near his home in New Hampshire and the idea of tackling the 2,100 mile hike and getting back to nature, starts to take root.

Bryson’s wife (Emma Thompson) thinks the idea is crazy, and prints up a stack of newspaper reports of hikers getting killed by bears with a post-it note attached that says “you’re not going alone!”

Bryson calls every friend he has, but nobody is interested in accompanying him. Then he gets a call from an old estranged friend, Stephen Katz played by the famously grizzled Nolte, who heard about the hike and asks if he can go. Bryson reluctantly agrees with the offer, and the two hit the trail which starts at Springer Mountain in Georgia.

Not far into the trail Bryson and Katz meet Kristen Schaal as a judgy, obnoxious fellow hiker who sings Daft Punk songs at the top of her lungs. The two elders are so annoyed by Schaal that they ditch her and even hitchhike a stretch to get ahead of her.

From there on out, the elderly duo encounter food-stealing bears, life-altering mountain views, a blizzard, the jealous shotgun-toting husband of a woman Nolte takes up with in one of the towns along the way (a SIDEWAYS-ish sideline), and Mary Steenburgen, who always seems to pop up in movies like this, as a friendly hotel owner who flirts with Redford.

Unsurprisingly, Nolte and Redford bicker until they bond, and end up exchanging great truths under the stars while they are trapped on a ledge on the side of a cliff under the path. That sort of stuff.

There’s not much visual artistry to the film; it’s workingmanlike cinematography at best (same goes for Kwapis’ direction) by longtime director of photography, John Bailey, but it frames these gruff old guys good enough, even if it doesn’t awe us as much as it tries (or as much as it awes our leads) with its wide stretches of scenery.

Redford originally developed this project as a vehicle for he and Paul Newman – it would’ve been their third film together after their classics BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID and THE STING - but Newman had the nerve to die before it could be come to fruition (would love to see that version). 

Nolte fits the part of Katz like a glove – he’s boozy without boozing (he says he’s reformed but Redford finds a bottle of whiskey hidden in his backpack), and he goes on the hike to avoid some outstanding warrants back in Des Moines – definitely a character in the actor’s wheelhouse. Plus, Rick Kerb and Bill Holderman’s screenplay adaptation of Bryson’s tome gives Nolte the funniest, saltiest lines like “There are only two men in the world that would sleep with her, and here we are in the same damn town!”

It’s a part that Redford could play in his sleep – the noble accomplished everyman, who uses dry humor as a defense mechanism – but he appears to be having fun here; it’s a welcome fluffy break after his weighty turns in ALL IS LOST and CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER and it’s much more preferable to his own directed films of late (the preachy LIONS FOR LAMBS and THE COMPANY YOU KEEP).

A WALK IN THE WOODS is a not bad, but not great buddy road (or mountain?) comedy that boasts a couple of likable legends roughing it (and slumming it) likably. If you manage expectations and go in not expecting Neil Simon you should be fine.

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Hey, I Finally Saw Neil Jordan’s THE GOOD THIEF!

Okay, so Neil Jordan’s THE GOOD THIEF, a 2002 heist thriller starring Nick Nolte, isn’t a classic, or even a movie that anyone’s ever made me feel guilty for having never seen, but it’s a movie that I’ve meant to get around to since its release 12 years ago, and was glad to see it available for streaming on Netflix Instant.

THE GOOD THIEF premiered in September of 2002 at the Toronto International Film Festival, just days before Nolte was arrested for drunk driving in Malibu. That is mostly remembered by folks by way of the infamous “mug shot,” which can still be seen as junk fodder on late night talk shows and internet memes.

The disheveled look of Nolte in that photo, wild hair and Hawaiian-shirt and all, was at odds with his well put together appearance in THE GOOD THIEF, Jordan’s 11th film as writer/director. Don’t get me wrong, the character Nolte portrays, Bob Montagnet, is a very rough at the edges guy who shoots heroin between intense smoky gambling sessions along the French Riviera, but the film wants to get across that he’s still got it going on - a young woman (Russian actress Nutsa Kukhianidze) says of seeing Nolte shirtless: “You look pretty good for a man your age.” Nolte replies: “What age is that?” Kukhianidze: “Stone age.”

Nolte’s self proclaimed “junkie gambler” is recruited by to mastermind a heist of a Monte Carlo casino, but they’re not after money, their score is a collection of original paintings from the Impressionist era worth more millions than what’s in the safe. The new Japanese owners hang convincing forgeries on the wall of their casino, while the real ones are stored in a nearby underground vault.

Nolte’s plan involves his appearance distracting the security at the casino – all eyes are on him thinking he’ll rob the place – while his crew is stealing the paintings. “It’s like those paintings,” Nolte explains, “we’ve got a real heist and a fake.”

The film gets pretty flashy; more than one critic called it “stylish,” but underneath the freeze frames (sometimes in slow motion) and carefully staged shots, there’s an odd sense of humor at play. Of the members of his crew, there’s Julien Maurel as a trans-sexual muscleman, a dapper pair of identical twins (Mark and Michael Polish), and Serbian actor Emir Kusturica as security system genius/rock guitarist, all coming together to be the rag tag comic relief throughout the caper.

There’s also an uncredited cameo by Ralph Fiennes as a slimey yet suave art dealer but that doesn’t amount to much so let’s move on.

More than once, Leonard Cohen croons on the soundtrack, himself seemingly obsessed with gambling: “The ponies run, the girls are young, The odds are there to beat. You win a while, and then it's done…your little winning streak” (from “A Thousand Kisses Deep” from Cohen’s 2001 album 10 New Songs).

It’s a fitting dark little song that does its thing here. As does Nolte who glides into the film’s climax in a fine Italian suit with his hair slicked back. “To the limit, let’s get some chips,” Nolte says with confidence as he enters the heavily lit gambling palace as the proceedings get more and more heated.

THE GOOD THIEF is one of those gambling movies that goes against the oft quoted line that “the house always wins.” In other words, ultimately it’s a fantasy film. It wants you to root for an aging down and out gambler to have one last chance at a big score – and look great doing it.

It’s only a notch above being just a watchable time waster, but with Nolte playing his hand perfectly - I especially like his mini-speeches on art, religion, and rock ‘n roll - it’s a pleasing late night find on Netflix Instant. It seems like Nolte has been laying low lately - he hasn't had any major film roles, and the HBO show Luck, in which he co-starred with Dustin Hoffman, was sadly cancelled after one season because of the death of three horses. Here's hoping he'll get another film like this one to dominate, he's too often part of ensembles.

It's a shame that that damn DUI photo is better known than this film from the same year, but then Nolte might not have gotten the great juicy self-parodying part in Ben Stiller's 2008 modern comedy classic TROPIC THUNDER without it, so there's that.

THE GOOD THIEF was based on Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1956 French gangster thriller BOB LE FLAMBEUR, which is available as part of the Criterion Collection. I’ll get to that one day too.

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Redford’s Vanity Project THE COMPANY YOU KEEP Is A Star-studded Dud

Opening today in Raleigh at the Colony Theater and the Raleigh Grande:

THE COMPANY YOU KEEP 

(Dir. Robert Redford, 2013)

Robert Redford’s ninth film as director, and 39th as actor, is polished and moves along briskly, but its tired political themes and its preachiness exposes what it really is: a vanity project. 

Redford’s character, a widowed public interest lawyer living comfortably in Albany, New York, was once part of the Weather Underground, a radical organization formed in the late ‘60s with the intent to overthrow the U.S. Government. Redford changed his identity in the late ‘70s as he is wanted by the F.B.I. for his alleged involvement in a Michigan bank robbery back then which resulted in the murder of a security guard.

The cast is full of famous faces who have gone into hiding like Redford, including Susan Sarandon, Nick Nolte, Julie Christie, Richard Jenkins, and Stephen Root. Intrepid scruffy Albany Sun Times reporter Shia Labeouf makes the connections between them that lead to Redford being exposed as a former antiwar radical and the chase is on.

Redford was ready for this with a stash of fake I.D.s, cash and a baseball cap as part of an ingenious disguise when in public, as well as custody papers for his brother (Chris Cooper) so that he can take care of Redford’s daughter (Jackie Evancho). This gives Redford the chance to restage scenes from THE FUGITVE with him cleverly eluding the authorities at every turn.

Labeouf, who, of course, has to answer to a hard-assed editor (Stanley Tucci), theorizes that Redford is on the run, not just to escape the F.B.I. led by another hard-ass, Terrance Howard, but to somehow clear his name.

The tone is even more self-important and self-righteous than Redford’s last film, the pretentious LIONS FOR LAMBS. Here, instead of Andrew Garfield, Labeouf symbolizes the young generation who Redford can lecture to. The gist being that the children of the ‘60s took it to the streets to protest the government’s involvement in Vietnam, while you kids are more concerned with updating your Facebook profiles as Jenkins, a former radical now a college professor, puts it in a laughable attempt at a meaningful line.

While interviewing Brendan Gleeson as the cop that originally investigated the robbery, Labeouf conveniently comes across indie film darling Brit Marling as Gleeson’s adopted daughter. While flirting with her he figures out her connection to Redford, and while I won’t spoil what it is, I’ll tell you that it’s no exciting revelation.

But then nothing is in this star-studded dud that’s only really about Redford fighting to still be relevant. The man has made some excellent films, among them ORDINARY PEOPLE and QUIZ SHOW, but here he’s treading water while he shakes his head at younger generations for dropping the ball.

I’m not sure what he wants us to do. Go hold up a protest sign on the corner? Join whatever is today’s equivalent to the Weather Underground? What?

When his noble character re-unites with his old flame Julie Christie whose help he needs in a nicely-lit cabin and they discuss old times there is a semblance of dramatic weight, but the phoniness of the dialogue and the predictability of the situation bog it way down. That pretty much sums up every scene come to think of it.

Throughout the film, we see Redford’s porn-stached mugshot from the ‘70s (actually a re-purposed still from ELECTRIC HORSEMAN it looks like to me) as if to remind us that not only was he hot back then, he was a man of major conviction. But then, he always is in every movie he’s made.

Here, our Uncle Redford has made a disappointing film about how disappointed he is in us. Too bad his incredible cast and impeccable narrative skills (I will concede that it’s not boring), can’t elevate it to be anything more than that.

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NICK NOLTE: NO EXIT - A Nutty Choppy Bio Doc

NICK NOLTE: NO EXIT (Dir. Tom Thurman, 2008)



"I thought this was going to be a bit of a lighter interview. You know, something more... mainstream for 6 year olds?" - Nick Nolte at the beginning of this film. The "bio doc" genre has been overflowing lately. It seems like every other celebrity in existence is the subject of a standard career summation complete with footage and anecdotal evidence. But when putting the gruff cantankerous actor Nick Nolte in the spotlight, director Tom Thurman decided to try something new with the format. 


 Thurman set up a casually dressed Nolte at a desk in a studio with a television monitor aimed at him. On that monitor is previously recorded video of a dapper Nolte (in a nice matching hat and dress jacket) asking questions. That's right - Nolte interviews himself. It's an odd but intriguing idea which seems to pay off at first. Nolte gets defensive at times in his replies yet says startlingly insightful stuff like: "My ego is a very limited petty individual. Rather jealous - an asshole basically." He sums the whole situation up at another priceless point when he states: "Every interview is a lie." 

Thankfully it's not just Nolte on Nolte - a roster of his friends and fellow co-workers appear to sing his praises including Ben Stiller, Alan Rudolph, Jacqueline Bisset, F.X. Feeney, Mike Medavoy, Barbara Hershey, and Paul Masursky. Bisset, Nolte's co-star from his first major film THE DEEP, humorously offers: "I think DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS he must have enjoyed enormously. Nick likes to get dirty." 

Speaking of getting dirty there's Nolte's infamous celebrity mug shot which comes up more than once. It's one of the film's only legitimate surprises when Nolte reveals: "That is not a mug shot. You see any numbers? You see that wall? It's a hospital wall." He goes on to explain that the arresting officer, who was a fan, asked if he could get a Poloraid. Nolte said "I'll do the shot if you share the money with the rest of the guys." As for his disheveled appearance: "That's the way I looked in THE HULK."