“The other big reason is that when you’re in the woods, you don’t have complete control over lighting. Yet as wonderful as Nolte is (the rebellious bad boy and former alcoholic par excellence), you can’t help wistfully imagining what Newman and Redford might’ve been like one last time (especially when the duo encounters a “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”-like moment). But then with the passing of Newman in 2008, Redford shelved it until he took a liking to Nolte after working together on “The Company You Keep” in 2012. Still, it’s unavoidable that the spirit if Paul Newman hovers around “A Walk in the Woods.” Redford developed the project with the hope that it would be their third film together. He’s become ‘comfortably numb.’ And Nolte’s character bursts into this at the perfect moment, uninvited.” But he sees that he’s in a creative rut and sees portents of his own mortality around him. He can’t articulate it…it’s unknown to him…he can’t understand his own need to do this.

One of the points that Bob and I really got excited about in our first discussion was the idea that Bryson can’t say why he wants to go on the hike. Will they make it? But the important aspect is their reconnecting after a decades-long separation. “Two characters decide to walk from A to B - 2,100 miles. “One of the challenges is that there’s not much plot,” Kwapis continued. “A Walk in the Woods” has a comedic surface, which is why Redford thought of Kwapis (the actor-director also liked the environmental theme of “Big Miracle”).

Robert redford a walk in the woods