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.

I was really disappointed in this movie. The build up and anticipation for it was great. I had high expectations. With Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman leading the charge, it was Kaufman's to screw up, and screw it up he did.

The characters were shallow, but they fit right in with the ankle deep script. I thought the historic film gimmick was overplayed and laughable at times. Clive Owen tried his hardest to bring life to Stahl and Turner's straw-man. Hemingway never had any real motive and when it appeared that he might, it was abandoned. Nicole Kidman did a fine job as well, but it had to be long days and frustrating nights with the stiff dialogue. The supporting cast was lifeless, filled with assumptions, and caricatures of an era. Watching this film was like watching an artist that promised to paint you a masterpiece then he pulled out a mop. This was sloppy film-making and it started with the script and ended with the director. A poor showing for such a rich subject.

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.

I wanted to enjoy this film very much, and was looking forward to seeing it.

Unfortunately it doesn't deliver in any way other than visually. It was shot and edited beautifully, and had a lot of potential. But that's where it ends.

The story is boring and meandering, and never really gives you anything to sink your teeth into. The character development is shockingly superficial, as though we're automatically supposed to care about Hemingway and Gellhorn simply because they're Hemmingway and Gellhorn. Sadly, it just doesn't work like that; the notoriety of he subject matter isn't enough to carry the story without competent writing to back it up.

Ultimately we're left with a disappointingly empty portrayal of one of the most colorful and dynamic individuals in history.