Hemingway & Gellhorn

Good try at combining a study of complex people and a look at the completely incomprehensible war torn twentieth century experienced first hand by the famous authors. Not an easy assignment.

The suffering of the ravaged and the slaughter of the human race and the love of two volatile writers are given equal time but the subjects are heavy and elusive at best.

The best one can hope for is a film worthy of the fight against Fascism (that could destroy the spirit in the best of us) and hold our interest in these two interesting people.

Still some insight about journalistic war time coverage comes through and there is some good use of cinema tricks and smooth transitions that helps move it all along at an entertaining clip.

Philip Kaufman who directed this long and boring mess of a film knows better (The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Twisted, etc) and the idea of reflecting on the relationship between Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn which took place during so many important historical events (Spanish Civil War in Franco's Spain, WW II complete with the Allied Invasion of Europe at Normandy Beach, the Russian Invasion of Finland, the turmoil in China as Communism rose in reaction to the Japanese invasion, the strange position of Cuba in all of this). But the screenplay is so mediocre to very bad (screenwriters Jerry Stahl and Barbara Turner) and the level of acting is so superficial that it simply falls flat.

Martha Gellhorn, the Collier's reporter who becomes a war correspondent and marries Ernest Hemingway as she travels up the ladder of fame, is by far the main character here. A very well made-up aged Martha (Nicole Kidman) opens the story as she is being interviewed for a TV program. We immediately are in flashbacks to how this stern woman met Hemingway in a Key West bar, matched him quip for poorly written quip and finally follows him in a very phony setup: Hemingway (Clive Owens in a shoddy performance) is traveling with John Dos Passos (David Strathairn), Spanish patriot Paco Zarra (Rodrigo Santoro) and crew to shoot a film by Joris Ivens (Lars Ulrich) to show the public the atrocities of Franco in the Spanish Revolution - a tiresomely overused gimmick. Everyone drinks a lot and Hemingway finally seduces Gellhorn to his bed in Madrid (he is currently married to the very Catholic Pauline (Molly Parker) who upon discovery his adultery refuses to divorce him). As the situation in Spain falls down, Hemingway and Gellhorn take their need to write - Hemingway to complete FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS and Martha flies off to various war fronts to be a war correspondent. Together they fight their way through experiences in China and other hot spots until ultimately Hemingway remains drunk in Cuba 'fighting off German U boats' and Gellhorn gives up on him.

Nicole Kidman gives the only remarkable performance; Clive Owens could have phoned in his role. Others in the huge cast of miniscule parts are Robert Duval , embarrassingly bad as a Russian General, Joan Chen as Madame Chiang, Tony Shalhoub as the Russian spy Koltsov, an excellent Santiago Cabrera as the famous war photographer Robert Capa, Peter Coyote (don't blink), Diane Baker, Parker Posey, and Connie Nielsen. The film runs 2 ½ hours on HBO and could easily have been edited down to an hour and a half. The only real saving grace (meaning the only reason to watch it0 is the very artistic way the film is a blend between contemporary cinematography and real film footage from the events in the story. That part is Magical. Otherwise, this is a snooze fest.

Grady Harp

Visually, a cinematic masterpiece on the big screen (San Francisco Castro Theater, May 27, 2012). The old, historical footage blended artistically and imaginatively with the new. The music! Moving and memorable. Nicole Kidman is beautiful as ever. (Can I get the name of her plastic surgeon?) The opening immediately catches your attention, with Ms. Gellhorn telling the story, as a woman of a certain age who is looking back.

On the other hand, I was disappointed to learn so little about their life together and their professions, especially hers. The in-your-face sex left nothing to the imagination. I simply got tired of watching Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen faking it.

The movie left me flat. I was interested in the history and intrigued to see how it was portrayed. Skipping back and forth between the sepia, black and white and colour formats was disruptive. Further I don't think that the two principals did their roles justice. Like Hemingway they tried, almost painfully at times, to be larger than life and it resulted in inconsistent portrayals of these remarkable characters....both are good actors...probably a function of bad direction. The love affair didn't work at all....I guess a combination of things got in the way of my enjoying the movie. Several times I commented "this is not a very good flick" as we watched...and yet we watched it to the end...knowing how it would end....a strange viewing experience. I wanted it to be better and it had such potential to be so.

Two great actors and a good rea life story, but it just doesn't work. For me it was how artificial and americanized it felt. The Spain they paint is clearly a set, not at all Madrid but a romantic idea of someone who doesn't know it. Everyone speaks in English, then the cliché of the gorgeous flamenco singer, etc. It just didn't feel authentic at all. It's hard to get into the story which has a lot of common places - and Hemingway is such a macho that he makes it really hard to root for their relationship.