iTunes Exclusive Episode A Walk In The Woods

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The 131st of these things, we welcome you.
My name is Rob, I'm the executive producer of the Clubhouse podcast and I'll take a walk
on you every once again, not like not literally on you, but I'll take a walk.
But I'm not alone for this particular episode, joining me across the desk at the official
fact checker of this show, and a man that knows a thing or two about nature.
You may know him as fun, don't go, but his mom and even don't want him to call him
Don Ford.
Welcome, sir.
Thank you for having me.
It's always an honor to have you here.
Yeah, I'd know a little about nature, born and white, all my Montana.
Yeah, there's a little bit of that up there.
Whenever we do one of these, it's usually to review something in this particular episode
is no different.
For this episode, we are reviewing the new film from Director Ken Kwapis.
Has done a lot of stuff, sisterhood of the traveling pants, being amongst them, licensed
to wed.
If you remember that, he did that as well.
His new movie is called A Walk in the Woods, Robert Redford, Nick Nolty, Emma Thompson,
Mary Steenberg, and Nick Offerman, Kristen Shaw.
Just amongst the many people in this film, it's based on a book, Robert Redford playing
the author of the book, Bill Bryson, who is a travel writer.
It's been a lot of time overseas, and he ends up attending the funeral of one of his friends,
which kind of gets him to think and of things that he needs to do in his life.
And he decides that he is going to hike the entire Appalachian Trail, which runs from
Georgia to Maine over 2,000 miles.
Of course his wife played by Emma Thompson, not real keen on this concept.
So she talks him into finding somebody to go with him, and he calls and calls and calls
and he'll be calling him back.
And then you finally get to call back from his friends, Stephen Katz, played by the great
Nick Nolty.
Which he didn't recognize too much, he's the ace to do this.
I mean, you're talking about a dude that's been around the block a few times.
I mean, Nick Nolty, the guy 74 years old for goodness sake.
And they go do this thing together.
Before we get, we got to think Ashden and everybody at Morocco and everybody at
Broadbury and Pictures for inviting us to this thing.
And you know, people ask me all the time, Rob, how can I get into screening?
If you go to our website, go to the links page.
Morocco's movie club has a link from our website.
You can sign up and they'll send you all kinds of stuff.
Oh, yeah, because they're awesome.
There we go.
We love them.
Yeah, everybody.
Morocco, all of our reps, but yeah, I think you to Ashden again in Broadbury,
pictures in Morocco for inviting us to this thing.
Absolutely.
Let's get rolling on this thing, man.
Let's start with the look of the film because I know you're big on this being
a nature guy.
Go ahead, sir.
Oh, I wish we had probably do this last, but let's go for it.
We're just diving into deep into the pool.
Yeah, you know how I feel about absolutely in the film.
Absolutely.
I was on sensory overload on this thing.
I bet you weren't.
You know, this reminded me, well, I'll see this.
If you go to my review at the clubhousepodcast.com, that is our website.
I put on there that there's three main characters.
Pretty nice.
Red for Nolty and the trail.
Oh, absolutely.
The trail is just like snowpiercer.
The train was its own character.
The trail was its own character on this.
But the nature shots and this thing blew me away.
It reminded me of the times I was, you know, as a kid growing up, going to the
Big Horn Mountains and Wyoming, and, you know, hiking some of those trails and
fishing up there and everything, just it's in God's country as we'd call it.
In this one, some of these areas was was just beautiful.
And they, this movie showed that trail incredibly well.
The Big parts, a little parts, how it's barely a little trail in some parts.
It's a drive through road, you know, it showed the trail incredibly,
don't look a little me away.
I thought.
And Crowley grew either of the visuals style here.
I thought was great.
I mean, we talk about Ken Kwapis again.
He's also done, he's not just not that into you.
Dunston checks in, he's directed some happyish.
He's even directed 13 episodes of the office.
So this guy's got, he's got skins on the wall.
In this particular film, I really felt that he kind of changed his visual style up a little bit
from the, from the home scenes to the wild scenes.
Yes, where it looks like he almost shot him completely different cameras in some cases,
which, which benefit him.
I mean, it was one of those.
If I'd have been watching this on something like on my HD TV at home, my eyes would have
bled.
The colors were so rich and things worked out.
The elements looked amazing.
There were a couple of points, I was like, ooh, that was shot in the sound stage.
But other than that, I mean, it looked amazing.
And it, it really, there was a naturalness to it that I really, really does.
And I loved how the movie showed how went from going on the trail to going to a hotel,
walking on a major road.
It showed all different aspects of this thing.
And, you know, and you felt you were right there with us.
Yeah, they didn't want to do check out this place.
Absolutely.
And one thing I really noticed about this, which, if you, I really noticed this as the
movie went on when they first start the trail, there's a big clubhouse all that and you
can tell people after people after people.
And then as they go on, there's times where there's no one around.
Yep, it's just, they get to other areas as it goes on and there's tons of people.
So it goes from being surrounded by people to, it's just,
to it's not everybody wants to walk the whole trail.
So I'm going to just want to want to, I mean, there was, look like a club scout
troop at one time, go as a team.
And it was more, you know, some people just want to do certain sections of it.
Some, I mean, they would say that only like 18% of the people that drive the whole trail finish
or something.
Yeah, but I mean, I love how it showed how the trail change and amount of people changed.
Absolutely.
So you're felt like going from different places, different places, incredible.
And if you were to hike it from one of the other, would probably take you six months.
Yeah, I thought they said 2000.
Yeah, but they said five million steps.
I thought they said five months.
If you go straight straight straight, but yeah, they're going to take a year.
Yeah, exactly.
But it's, it's gorgeous, gorgeously shot.
Is that a word, gorgeously?
Yes.
And we're just story wise.
I thought the story here was really, really strong.
I was very, very committed.
I was engaged in this thing.
No, me too.
The whole time.
Yeah, there was no Drake parts on this.
I really found.
And I loved, you know, which I put in my written view,
again, the clubhouse podcast.com.
That's our website.
How you could have a very serious moment.
And there's like one scene by the end of what's the bottle.
You need one of them.
Oh, yeah, okay.
Okay, being smaller free.
But then the comedy throughout this thing, they mixed so well.
How you have a bonding friendship that's growing and they're really
taking the deep look into themselves by a walking this thing.
But the comedy goes throughout and it's done exactly right at the right moment,
it's the right amount.
It was like a river runs through it meets grumpy old men.
Exactly.
You know, it, the two of these guys.
I mean, but then I'll put it right into the performances.
First of all, Robert Redford, one of the greatest actors in the history of
Ev Burd.
Totally, aging amazingly well.
When you realize this guy turns 80 next year.
Yeah.
You know, they're still smooth, still still the man.
Yeah, Nick Nolty, who we all know is a great actor.
The fact that these two, I'd never seen them work together.
It's beyond me because their chemistry was amazing.
Oh, they bought it.
You could tell they fed off each other.
They felt it was like they'd hung out every day with each other for like,
really for like 30 years.
And they worked well off of each other.
They knew when to give and when to take because that's what veteran actors do.
Exactly, but there was just that there was a very relaxed vibe to the two of them that I
really, really dug.
You, you felt at these two genuinely like each other and genuinely enjoyed being around each
other.
And that's one of the things I loved about the way this film as it progressed went on.
Well, one thing I, I noticed is like I said earlier, there's three characters.
Nolty referred in the trail.
Yep, yep.
But there's a lot of minor characters, but there, the movies just basically those three,
but they have a lot of minor characters at the right points where they're not over-floated.
There's no, I, I, I can't really think who except for his wife,
who would be the best supporting actor if it was, yeah, all the, all the minor characters.
Yeah, they played their roles well and they, they were not big, but they were just the right
amount of thought.
Yeah, the first in shawl was, it was a very, very fun.
Uh, as the other hiker, Marystein version, always great.
Yeah, still looks amazing.
She, she was awesome.
There were some great little side stories to the film.
Exactly when they were staying at the, at the little motel and the thing.
And a lot of, yep, yeah, no laundry.
And, and that had multiple little arcs in it too.
And I like how it all kind of fits together in the grand scheme of things.
Where if some of those things hadn't been there, the movie wouldn't have been any less good,
but those things made the movie even better.
Yeah, like the lower I was Susan McFall in there with the laundry.
You know, and that just, she just hit the comedy on that.
I was rolling on that stuff with her.
Oh, it was great.
Yeah, I, I, the, the minor roles complimented the,
totally characters and they even fed up the minor roles I thought.
But I, I thought this was really when it comes to character use,
done very well, almost perfect, I thought.
I, I, I think this thing worked on all levels.
Yeah, it didn't really, really did for me.
There was, you know, it's about an hour, 45, just a little bit shy.
Yeah, and it didn't seem like that.
It didn't drag.
I love the endasing was great.
It ended right.
Especially the last 15 minutes.
I thought, no, whole 15 minutes ended correctly, I thought.
Um, I, I said that I thought watching the trailer, my expectations were a little,
not a lot, but a little low on this thing.
I'm thinking, yeah, well, you know, I was surprised.
This blue every expectation out of my mind that I could think of.
It's exceeded them beyond belief.
I had very high expectations going into this because of the, the principal's involved.
You know, Robert Redford, I, not made for an Oscar last year.
Yes, you know, he was in Captain America, the Winter Soldier,
to an amazing job in that.
And he's Robert Freak and Redford.
Yes, you know, I mean, what else do you need to know?
It's Robert Redford, Nick Nolty, who has always been great.
Yeah, you come back to 48 hours.
Yeah, he had to feel of the kind of just the grumpy, you know,
you, you, you, you had to feel of Nolty, but he was perfect for that role.
It, those two were perfect for that role.
And the, and their chemistry was so strong that he, who, who do you think could replace Nolty and that?
I can't think of anyone.
I'm not, I'm not even going to try to talk about it, be honest with you, because they were both
that strong.
Yeah.
Now, I'm not saying that this is going to be Oscar-bait for either one of them,
because it's not that kind of move.
Yeah.
But I think, you know, there may, maybe some, some, some of the non-major award
sag possibly, instead of that.
I think sag would be a little, golden, golden, golden, maybe, but I think sag's a good
still early for, you know, it's not November when this was released, so, you know,
that might, it's not always the case.
Yeah, but not always the case.
Yeah, no, but they're Academy likes the newest.
Yeah, it's a good transition from the summer movie season into the fall.
Movie season, and I thought it was a perfectly placed film.
Let me know, because, you know, these people know what they're doing.
They, they're paid for, yeah, you know, but strength all the way through this thing.
Did not drag, not at all.
Serious, you know, make your laugh, you will hit your heart.
And me, man, that thing brought me back home as a kid when I was watching that thing.
And there's one scene I love where he's, when he's, you know, researching the trail,
and it shows those pictures, there's one incredible shot on the computer.
And later, they're at that point.
Yeah.
That was just, I was like, okay, that's, that's cool.
That is cool.
And, and another thing that works, you know, we are men of a certain age, as they like to say.
And this kind of, you know, we're at the point in our lives, we're a lot of things are changing.
And, you know, coming of age stories isn't just about kids and college students.
You know, there's a transition from early life to middle age and from middle age to senior age.
And then the twilight years.
And they to brought that in perfectly.
Yeah.
And this is that kind of a coming of age story of that of a man coming to grow so the fact that,
if you know what, I'm not as young as I used to be.
You know, I like to say, you know, the older I get, the better I was.
You know, and that is that kind of spoke to me a little bit.
Now granted, I've got a few years left in me, you know, until I get to the point of these gentlemen.
But, yeah, I kind of identify with it a little bit.
That's what I, you know, I helped the friend of mine move recently.
And I put on Twitter, I found that moment where my brain was still under 20, but my body was over 40.
You know, you realize that you can't do a lot of things you used to be able to do.
But that doesn't want to stop you from ever trying.
Exactly.
You know, know your limits, but in this case, you know, Bryson didn't really know his limits.
He wanted to see where his limits were.
I'm going to go hike this trail that, you know, only the young kids with the clothes and the hair are doing.
But I'm in decent shape.
I can try this.
Yeah.
Well, it's what he had to begin.
He saw them progress as they're went on.
You could see them go strong or stronger, especially guilty, you know, the first quarter mile
versus, you know, halfway through the film.
He's, he's really, you know, kicking it up there.
And one of my favorite scenes comes early on when they're in the camping store.
It was Nick Offerman.
Yeah.
That's that scene was hilarious.
Yeah.
And the fact that Redford can play the straight man, but still have the, and still convey comedic chops
is the brilliance of that man.
You know, I, I'd put him in every movie ever.
He makes any movie better.
And then when you put Nick Nolti on top of that, and even Emma Thompson, who didn't have a lot of
screen time, she was, she's always amazed.
Yeah, if there was a best supporting actress, she would fit in that category.
I mean, I, but I can't think of a best supporting actor.
Who would you put in there?
There is none.
Didn't have to be.
Yeah, exactly.
You know, that's the, and that's the genius of this film.
I loved it so much.
Yeah.
And it talking to other critics around me after the thing they all loved it too.
I mean, it's doing well on a lot of the, a lot of the meters that I'm seeing.
Yeah.
And front of me on my screen right now.
I guess that brings us into the final analysis, doesn't it?
Yes.
The way we do the final analysis on this show.
We don't give you letter grades.
We don't give you thumbs up thumbs down.
We don't give you one to 10 stars.
Our audience whom we affectionately refer to as the empire is better than that.
We asked two questions.
Question number one is would you see this film again?
If the answer's no, then we're done here.
But if the answer's yes, it becomes how far would you be willing to go to see this?
Would you pay for price?
Would you wait for a matinee?
Would you go, you know, twilight?
Would you go early morning?
Would you wait for it in second one to dollar theater?
Would you bank the effort to go to red box?
Would you stream it through Netflix?
Would you wait for it on television?
Done.
Would you see this film again?
Oh, definitely.
How far are you willing to go?
Because of so many things where I cannot find anything wrong with this film.
I'm given it coveted.
The full price at a theater evening show.
Very nice.
Yeah.
I would definitely see this film again.
I would tell people like I said at the end of my written review, which is at www.theclubhousepodcast.com.
Which is our website?
Go now.
Go often.
Go again.
Take a friend.
Go, go, go, listen to this on your way to the theater.
I don't care how you see it.
Go see this film.
You have to covet it.
Absolutely.
Okay.
Whatever it takes, go see this film.
Now we want to say the language gets salty.
Yeah.
If I've got to have one critique, they probably could have backed the language.
The job a little bit.
But if that's my only critique of the film, you're doing okay.
I mean, you want the budget, was it?
Oh, was it?
8 million.
Oh, it'll make that back.
Oh, yeah.
It'll make that back.
It was quickly.
For that, they did some incredible film for that kind of film.
No, it is rated R. I think because of the language.
Because of the language.
Yeah, I mean, there's no.
And there's a couple of adults that you wish.
Yeah, but no, I mean, no nudity, no real just thought, you know, let's just
swear for the heck of a kind of thing.
But I think they could have dealt with a little bit.
Yeah, that was it.
That didn't even.
I didn't really notice that too much.
I, you know, there's some adult comedy, of course, in that.
But that I think they hit the movie well.
So yeah, I would recommend this for the teens and above, you know, easily.
I, 20 years will laugh at this and everybody 40 and above over late to this.
A walk in the woods directed by 10 Kwapis, go see this movie.
Yeah, again, we got to thank Ashen for Merok and everybody abroad,
Green Pictures for inviting us to this thing.
It was such a surprise and I loved it.
Thank you so much.
It is always our honor to do.
So let's do the plug.
Shall we?
Definitely.
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