"A Walk in The Woods"

We went to the movies this afternoon to see the film adaptation of Bill Bryson's "A Walk in The Woods."  Definitely my favorite book of Bryson's, and I've read them all.

When I heard that Robert Redford would be playing Bryson, I shook my head in disbelief... not that there's anything wrong with Redford, but he just didn't seem to match the look of Bryson.  That being said, Redford wasn't bad in the role, but still, he didn't fit the image or character of Bill Bryson. I don't know exactly who I would have put in that role, but it wouldn't have been Redford.  Hats off to Redford, though, for aging gracefully without plastic surgery that would turn him into an unrecognizable face in the Hollywood crowd.

As I was reading "A Walk in The Woods" years ago, I was laughing in each of the chapters, and telling my husband that he really needed to read that book. For a man who reads technical volumes but hardly ever reads for the simple pleasure of reading, he did read Bryson's book, and loved it. Actually, we both liked that book so much that I started buying it as gifts for friends.  And I've re-read "A Walk in The Woods" since that first reading.

So there we were in the theater this afternoon, waiting for certain scenes from the book to appear on the screen... some of the best parts from the book were omitted in the movie. And there were scenes in that movie that weren't in the book at all, and didn't need to be on the screen. I have to wonder why the Powers That Be in the movie industry don't trust the insights and creativity of the authors of these very popular books. Honestly... if a book is that good  then cutting some of the chapters out of the film isn't going to make the movie better and adding things that never happened in the book isn't exactly proper either.

Oh well.  The movie was fine. The book, however, was great. I hope Bill Bryson was pleased both with Redford and the adaptation of his work.  And I also have to wonder how many people will want to be walking along the Appalachian Trail after seeing this film... the panoramic scenes along the way were just beautiful.  (I can count myself out of those trail-walkers.... if I want that experience, I'll just re-read Bryson's book.)