The Garden of Eden

First off, that god awful wig they made Mena wear, looked like a mud helmet. You could see the wig netting come down her forehead a full inch. The makeup on her and the dress for when she first met David...just bad. Hair and wardrobe should be fired. Then you have the horrible lines and the way they were delivered. Had to stop watching after 12 minutes.

This is a very mediocre movie with really good actors who have done everything to give shape to this story. Mena Suvari and Caterina Murino are great in their roles even if these roles are incomplete for understand their stories. For Jack Huston I did not feel anything. He is just not the right actor for the role maybe, he seems too young and perfect to be credible. The story remains shallow, despite the inspiring beginning and how seductive the first 30 minutes looks - it then became flat. The characters are not developed enough to make them believable. They are a cool couple but without any reason to do what they do?. Sad to see what could be a good movie in the right hands. The photography and aesthetic in the movie is good, also beautiful locations, however the lack of depth make this almost disappear. I feel disappointed after watching it.

As someone who has studied and taught Hemingway for 40 years and read all his works, countless times, I think the main question here is what would Hemingway himself think of the way he is portrayed in this film. Remember please that someone else finished and edited the entire novel. So can you say it was written by Hemingway? What would he himself think about this work, which was so important to him that he worked on it for decades, and could never get it right enough to finish it. I think he would be enraged and feel betrayed by those who rewrote his work. Hemingway was so unique as a person with a true gift for saying so very much in so very few words, and so unique as a person who had deep human needs coupled with a fearlessness possessed by few, that I dare anyone to copy his style successfully. I have done that over the years, and I've never seen anyone succeed. So finishing the novel, and editing the entire work by another or others, is a fraud to call it a Hemingway novel or film based on it.

This film is excellent, even though there is quite a lot of nudity. The photography is absolutely stunning and mesmerising, particularly scenes in Africa and by the quayside. The acting is excellent and all in all this is a fantastic film. Not for the faint-hearted, though.

The sets for this film were devised especially and the hotel built for the purpose of the story.

The ending has been changed for the American market but hopefully will be back to the original for the British and European markets. Perhaps in 2011 this film will be released for these areas to view. It is such a shame it has taken so long to be released, having been completed in 2008.

Mena Suvari delivers every line like a ridiculous declaration. She's a horrible actress and this is a horrible movie. I didn't read the book but I have to assume it must be better than the film adaptation because it sure can't be worse.