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Robert Redford reportedly spent years trying to get this project off the ground, so it seems odd that he appears to be sleepwalking throughout the whole thing. The plot is as thin as the 79-year-old's hair, with virtually nothing happening. The writing is also sub-par, filled with weak dialog dealing mainly with senior-citizen sex urges and other old-man humor that falls flat before the Appalachian Trail hike even begins. Nick Nolte, with his unkempt appearance, gravelly voice and crude outlook on life, is the lone bright spot here. He does an admirable job with little to work with, and you get the feeling you wish you were watching him in a better movie. Unfortunately, there isn't much chemistry between the two veteran actors. "A Walk in the Woods" stumbles from the first step and never gets its footing.

I expected this documentary to lean left. I expected it to show all of Lee Atwater's warts. I expected it to shine a harsh light on the dirty campaign tactics that define modern politics. However, I wasn't prepared for the severe leftward tilt of its content. Goodness, if only we had known how angelic Michael Dukakis was, we wouldn't have elected him president, we would have proclaimed him pope! Viewing this film it becomes obvious that his political views and poor campaign had absolutely nothing to do with his landslide defeat. It was all because of that awful man from South Carolina and the millions of sheep who were tricked into voting for the vice president! It's a shame there couldn't have been more balance instead of a litany of complaints from defeated opponents and a condemnation of many of the same tactics used by Democrats. I would have preferred a more rounded look at the man and of politics in general, where both sides have committed their share of bashing, scheming and pandering.

I didn't think it was possible, but I finally watched a Ray Winstone movie that wasn't very good. "Tracker" has a fine premise and could have provided a valuable history lesson, as few Americans (myself included) have little knowledge of the Boer Wars. However, despite the gorgeous New Zealand scenery, the plot, direction and acting are fairly lame. Temuera Morrison, playing the native Maori being tracked, overacts to an embarrassing degree and even Winstone - one of my favorite non-American actors - seems to be doing little more than going through the motions. The plot is predictable, the dialog stilted and the movie itself does little more than take up time.