So many things in this movie didn't work for me. I've read many of Bill Bryson's books and I get his style and humour. I don't think the director did.The casting, I didn't think Redford was a convincing Bryson, maybe Nolte would have been better cast in the lead. Redford is too refined and clean cut. Then, as Bryson's wife Emma Thompson didn't work for me either, there was no chemistry between them. I suffered the first hour and a half and fell asleep, I really should have quit earlier.

There's a classic (though probably unintentional) homage when Robert Redford, as a bored travelogue writer, and Nick Nolte, as his once-wild companion, are staring off the edge of an Appalachian Trail peak with nowhere to go but way, way down... Well the younger SUNDANCE could have survived but these guys are just too old to take risks... Though not entirely...The hike is quite a chore, especially so late in life, and the first twenty minutes doesn't really develop the characters but plays a sort of hesitation game while learning about other people that don't matter much (like Emma Thompson as a wife so open-minded she's just not interesting)... So once the journey finally gets underway, it's all about Redford's classy-wise Bill and Nolte's shaggy, weathered Stephan.Feeling catered to a mainstream audience and taking on a BUCKET LIST plot without Cancer, the movie itself hikes from here to there in a breezy, safe fashion. So when a load of misadventures happen (and keep happening) to the boys, from an annoying female camper to a jealous small town husband, the results feel contrived. But there is one particular scene (led by Nolte) where they not only genuinely bond with each other, the audience gets to see past the cliché "we're too old for this" template and the two veteran actors get to finally... act their talents.

I love the book, so I was understandably excited when it was announced that there would be a movie based on it, with Redford and Nolte, no less. Turns out the movie has nothing to do with the book, and it feels as if nobody involved in the movie read the book, or understood it. The book is about hiking, about how the scale and distances acquire totally new meaning when your'e on foot. It's about the Zen of making one step after another. It's about having the time to notice the details in the landscape. It is about hating the hiking, and being enthralled by it. It is also about curiosity, and about self-mockery as a constant background hum.In the movie all of this turned upside down. The hiking becomes an afterthought to motels, restaurants and poor attempts at jokes, the character of Bryson comes across as self-righteous and narrow-minded, the curiosity has been replaced with didactic and pompous recital of facts. The addition of the "Ledge scene" is worst of all, the conversation among the protagonists jarringly out of sync with their supposed characters.If I hadn't read the book, I'd probably look at the movie as simply a mediocre comedy. But if it presumes to be based on the book, I have to say it has let the book down. Sad, really.

After spending two decades in England, Bill Bryson returns to the U.S., where he decides the best way to connect with his homeland is to hike the Appalachian Trail with one of his oldest friends. Although it's not the best film of either Robert Redford and Nick Nolte both men give 2 truly great performances and they make this trip in order to face their personal demons but also find a purpose on their lives and it's for sure childish and immature at times but it's still a very entertaining comedy with 2 really good actors although the R-Rating is kinda a little bit too much for me but maybe it's because of the "F" words? But still not a R-Rated film more like PG-13 but anyways still a pretty nice film and if you see it with low expectations you will not be disappointed 8/10