The Garden of Eden

Great movie based on a great book - brilliant photography and wonderful costumes by the same person who won an Oscar for her costumes in Elizabeth 1, Alexander Byrne, and the editing is second to none from one of the best editors in the business.

The best of the best with a few minor flaws.

Mena Suvari is superb and Jack Huston as her on screen husband is fitting in the part. John Huston's direction is flawless.

Is is just a pity that the film has not come to Europe yet and had a wider audience. The film should be viewed on the BIG screen as this is the only way to do justice to a Hemingway film.

The film went on limited release in the USA on 10th December 2010 to critical acclaim.

What more can be said?

What a boring story and the acting is so bad that it's hard to focus. Useless irritating characters, just wanted them all to fall of a cliff so the movie could end.

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.

I'm a huge Ernest Hemingway fan and The Garden of Eden is by far my favorite novel. I must have read it a dozen times. I was reluctant to even watch the film - knowing that it could never live up to the book.

Well, I did anyway.

The photography is great. I lived in the south of France for seven years and I've always been in love with the region. But, it appears that most of the filming was done in Spain.

The direction and acting are brilliant. However, this has to be one of the worst screenplay adaptations of a novel ever. Much of the very "real to life" dialogue is totally absent from the film. The true motivations of the characters (and their respective dilemmas) are underdeveloped.

Oh well... Read the book.

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.