I read the book and wondered at the time how it could be transformed into a movie since better than two-thirds of it is a discussion of history and nature -- interesting but not at all cinematic. The funniest part is towards the beginning when they meet Mary Ellen. Katz calls her "a piece of work" though they leave this out of the film. When she brags about walking fourteen miles when it was really 8.2 and won't budge from that position Katz asks her, "How many miles did your lips hike?" She doesn't get the jibe and gives a straight answer, "Just as many as the rest of me." The film, like I said, leaves this out. Too bad. They part from her to go to town but she finds them again the next day as they have eaten all but one of their Hostess cream-filled cupcakes. (They're staring at it pleasantly as it sits on a log nearby.) She arrives with some insult about how slow they're traveling, and grabs the cupcake and with a, "Say,is that a Hostess cupcake? Well, I don't mind if I do,"-- wolfs it down in two bites. The film leaves this out. When she's trying to show off her sense of people and their astrological signs she quizzes them: What's your sign? She asks Katz. "Cunnilingus," he answers. I cracked up. But the movie left that out. The movie has them give some actual sign like Virgo. Then she asks Bryson his sign. "Necrophilia," he answers. "Ah, come on. Are you guys putting me on?" She asks. The movie left this whole thing out and went with an unfunny segment where she tells them they don't know their actual signs but she does know them. Amusing but not as amusing as what really happened.
The arduous journey, the hardship, the challenges are left out for the most part. Instead it is kind of a buddy picture. In the book they don't talk all that much. One thing that comes across in the book is how much Bryson is into seeing as much of the trail as he can, and knowing about it's history and doing the work of hiking it. He does quite a bit of it on his own while Katz is back in Iowa. He does day trips day after day. None of this energy, this craving to know and master . . . comes through from the book. Redford is too old to have carried off this kind of zeal and energy. So I missed seeing that. Perhaps he should have cast someone younger for both roles. Just a thought.
The arduous journey, the hardship, the challenges are left out for the most part. Instead it is kind of a buddy picture. In the book they don't talk all that much. One thing that comes across in the book is how much Bryson is into seeing as much of the trail as he can, and knowing about it's history and doing the work of hiking it. He does quite a bit of it on his own while Katz is back in Iowa. He does day trips day after day. None of this energy, this craving to know and master . . . comes through from the book. Redford is too old to have carried off this kind of zeal and energy. So I missed seeing that. Perhaps he should have cast someone younger for both roles. Just a thought.