“A Walk In The Woods” is no walk in the woods.

It’s more than that. It’s an exploration of no less than the meaning of a man’s, or woman’s, life through the lens of hiking the Appalachian Trail.

After a friend’s funeral, travel writer Bill Bryson (Robert Redford) tells his wife (Emma Thompson) he feels the need for a quest. She provides stories about disasters along the trail: bear attacks, murders and starvation.

Bryson is unrelenting. He must not hike alone, his wife insists. Enter childhood chum, Stehen Katz (Nick Nolte). If Bryson, even in his 70s, is the epitome of fitness, Katz is his polar, and perhaps bipolar, opposite.

Nolte isn’t only along for the ride, er, 2,180-mile Georgia to Maine hike. He’s along for an actor Oscar nomination. Not to take away from Redford’s usual magnanimous, effortless and charming performance, but Nolte, even though subtitles would’ve helped comprehend his raspy, wheezy, gruff voice, steals every scene. Nolte not only has nearly all of the best lines, his presence itself invokes laughter.

It’s not all fun and trail mix. “A Walk In The Woods” has a, ahem, cliff-hanger. They’re on the rocks. Nolte reveals his character’s essential transformation with a pour of bourbon that could make a grown man or woman cry.

The screenplay by Rick Kerb and Bill Holderman (in their theatrical feature screenplay debuts), with often crude, rude and lewd humor interspersed with fascinating factoids, is based on the Bill Bryson book, “A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail” (1998). There are some laugh-out-loud funny moments in the direction by Ken Kwapis (“He’s Just Not That Into You,” 2009; “The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants,” 2005).

Add to Redford’s and Nolte’s Stan and Ollie routine are great supporting performances. Thompson provides the essential gravitas for these geezers gone to the wild to give us pause that, if huge Tennessee black bears don’t get them, heart attacks might.

Kristen Schaal is hilarious as a nonstop talker, fast-walker and all-around Millennium know-it-all on the trail of life. Mary Steenburgen makes a graceful appearance as a motel owner, providing the perfect wistful coda. Nick Offerman is his usual wound-up self as an outdoors store clerk.

Top the fine performances with spectacular scenery and you have one-part travelogue, one-part buddy film and one-part old-school Hollywood screwball comedy.

You may even want to follow by example and, if not an attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail, you might at least try “A Walk In The Woods.”

“A Walk In The Woods,” MPAA rated R (Restricted. Children Under 17 Require Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian.) for language and some sexual references; Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama; Run time: 1 hour, 44 min.; Distributed by Broad Green Pictures.

Credit Readers Anonymous: “A Walk In The Woods” was mainly filmed in Georgia.

Box Office: Because of early Labor Day Holiday deadlines, box office results for the Sept. 4 weekend were unavailable.

Unreel, Sept. 11:

“The Visit,” PG-13: A single mother’s children’s visit to grandma’s house goes awry. M. Night Shyamalan directs Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan and Peter McRobbie in the horror spoof.

“The Perfect Guy,” PG-13: A woman’s new boyfriend may be too good to be true. Sanaa Lathan, Michael Ealy, Morris Chestnut and Rutina Wesley star in the thriller.

“90 Minutes In Heaven,” PG-13: A near-death experience explains the title. Kate Bosworth, Hayden Christensen and Hudson Meek star in the drama.

“Sleeping With Other People,” R: A womanizer and a cheater compare notes. Jason Sudeikis, Alison Brie, Jordan Carlos and Margarita Levieva star in the comedy.

“Time Out Of Mind,” No MPAA rating, A homeless man confronts his estranged daughter. Richard Gere, Ben Vereen, Jena Malone and Steve Buscemi star in the drama.

Four Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes