A Walk in the Woods (15)
three stars
Dir: Ken Kwapis
With: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte
Runtime: 104 minutes
ROBERT Redford plays Bill Bryson - yes, really - as he attempts to walk the 2000-mile Appalachian Trail with estranged friend Stephen Katz (played by Nick Nolte). The joy of Bryson is his piercing wit, so it’s a disappointing that most of the attempts at humour here are of the broad, slapstick variety. Go beyond that surface silliness, however, and there are some moments of genuine poignancy from Nolte, playing a man who knows he cannot drink again but is terrified of the hole in his life that has been left behind. Worth sticking with for that, and to see Redford and Nolte spark off each other like the old pros they are.
The D Train (15)
three stars
Dirs: Jarrad Paul, Andrew Mogel
With: Jack Black, James Marsden
Runtime: 101 minutes
ANOTHER double act, this time Jack Black and James Marsden, for your viewing pleasure (or otherwise). Black plays Dan Landsman, a suburban nobody who always wanted to be a somebody, like his high school hero Oliver (Marsden) who went off to LA to become an actor. Dan reckons his stock could rise if he persuades Dan to come to the reunion and sets out to make it happen, by any means necessary. A directorial debut, which accounts for a tone that is all over the shop, but some wry smiles to be had, particularly from Marsden strutting his stuff.
The Closer We Get
four stars
Dir: Karen Guthrie
Runtime: 88 minutes
KAREN Guthrie’s documentary about caring for her mother after a stroke is part a portrait of caring and part a mystery as questions from the family’s past make their way into the present. Considered, heartfelt, moving and endlessly fascinating, all family life is here in a way so rarely seen on the cinema screen.
Vikingar, Largs, September 18; Dunoon Film Festival, September 19; Glasgow Film Theatre, September 20. Others: see www.facebook.com/TheCloserWeGet
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