Deux drôles d'oiseaux

Even though Duvall's fake, middle class Cuban accent was not right on the money all the time, he portrayed his obsessive/compulsive, retired gentleman character's odd and gentle affectations to the letter and was totally believable and the best thing in this movie, along with Shirley Maclaine in her tough/nice landlady role as Cooney. Duvall played his character Walt as an intensely honorable man raised in the strictest form of old Spanish "gentilhombre" tradition prevalent in pre-Castro Cuba. He left Cuba for America to see the Yankees in the 1958 World Series, and never returned as the Communist revolution occurred at the same time, preventing his return. As he was a true gentleman, when there was such a thing, he was not to be personally insulted or touched in anger by any man or be at all discourteous to women or tolerate such behavior by other men, and any such coarse behavior in his presence was sure to cause an altercation, and perhaps even a physical one. To him, true gentlemen were protectors of the innocence and dignity of women in his well-defined world of gentility and respect.

Harris' sloppy and crude character Frank, who was achingly lonely but showed good reason for his alone-ness in his selfishness and eccentricity, was sure to aggravate Walt in short order with his cursing and coarse behavior. Harris' role was really not too much of an acting stretch for this famous rounder in real life, but he was still very effective in conveying the angst of loss of a meaningful life and family love.

Their short friendship leading to the inevitable conflict was so touching and sad in its honesty and spot-on emotional accuracy when men of a very different style finally clash and part. The same or similar thing has happened to many of us at one time or another in life, so most viewers will connect with its truth and emotional impact. It was nice to see them reconnect after Frank essentially apologized to Walt in the only way he could, obliquely.

The film had a relaxed and almost "retired" pacing, never boring to me but perfectly in tune with day to day retired living in the Miami area, or anywhere. Three scenes of the men together were particularly memorable for their sensitivity and insight.... the fireworks scene, the haircut/shave scene, and the scene where Frank "apologized" to Walt after their argument and afterward they both danced with little girls in a park. Watch for these scenes as they come up as they are crucial to story development. Just great film-making.

This film was one of the best I have seen in depicting how differing people retire from useful professions and then fade from being productive social contributors into their respective, more or less useless retired ways, with some fighting and struggling the whole way and others accepting their fate with gentleness and realization of the inevitability of life. We are all like these film characters in some ways, or will be, and seeing in the film what awaits us all in an older age was not always a pretty sight, but it was always very engaging and touching. We truly cared for the characters in this film....the primary mark of a successful story.

A wonderful film not to be missed by anyone over 50.

In 1992, I was a literary agent at Writers & Artists Agency in Los

Angeles. In a town where new scripts by unproven young writers

can't get their scripts read, I was one of the few agents who was

eager to find new talent. One day, I received a letter from a young

writer asking me to read his script. The title intrigued me and the

story he described demanded that I read the script. The young writer's name was

Steve Conrad and he had just graduated from the University of

Chicago. The script was "Wrestling Ernest Hemingway", and from

the very first page, I knew I had to represent it. The writing was so

simple, so poetic, so powerful, so witty and so real that I called

him before I had even finished reading the script. I was able to

convince Todd Black, an enthusiastic young producer, to read it

and his passion matched mine. He sold it to Warner Bros. and

they made the movie. In a Hollywood rarity, Steve remained the

sole writer of the script.

I am so gratified to read the User Comments and to see how this

little gem of a movie has affected so many people. I am no longer

a literary agent; I now teach English and History to 6th graders. I

shall always be so proud that I had some part in bringing this

wonderful writer and his script to the screen, and that so many of

you have shared my passion about it.

The teaming of Robert Duvall and Richard Harris sounded promising even before this film opened, and neither disappoint in this tale of a couple of elderly oddballs having one last fling. Walter (Duvall) is a shy man, who has never danced with a woman, and whose only friend is a young waitress (Sandra Bullock) for whom he has developed a quaint affection. Frank (Harris) is a boaster, who claims to have wrestled with Hemingway – hence the film's title – who antagonises his landlady (Shirley MacLaine) and his lady friend (Piper Laurie); his family largely ignore him.

The beauty of this film, written by twenty-one year old Steve Conrad and directed by Randa Haines, is that it gives you both a belief in the characters, and a genuine interest in what will happen to them. As Walter and Frank, misfits both, become friends, we cheer them on and are concerned for them at the same time. There can't be a happy ending for both of them (and there isn't), but this movie really is a celebration of age and what can be achieved beyond the prime of life. Bullock, Laurie and MacLaine are fine in small, less showy role, but this movie belongs squarely to Duvall and Harris.

This is a great movie, and the critic's plot summary doesn't come close to helping you decide whether or not to watch it. It's NOT a tear jerker either. With this cast you're obviously not watching any rookies or male actors lost in their macho. Every character in this movie is played superbly, and becomes so real, that you can't help but feel like you are right in the middle of a slice of life in a little town on the coast of Florida.

Robert Duval (Walter) is a retired Cuban gentleman, Richard Harris (Frank) is a lonely, crusty retired sailor. Each lives alone, without any family around. They meet in the park at Franks' unwelcome prompting, and with some real reluctance on Walter's part. Shirley McClaine (Coonie) is the divorced motel landlord where Frank lives, and they go toe to toe over one issue after another, occasionally over a little Irish whiskey, including whether or not she'll let Frank get his hands on her. Sandra Bullock (Elaine) is Walter's favorite waitress at the Sweetwater Cafe, and they exchange fond jabs each time he comes around. Piper Lorie is a self respecting single lady, on whom Frank clumsily works his flawed romanatic magic in their town's only movie house.

At the center of this light drama is the unlikely and rocky friendship developing between Frank and Walter. With the backdrop of a laid back little coastal town, and moving to wonderful cuban music and rhythms, each one of the characters and relationships unfolds a little at a time, and begin to cross over one another. Just as you get to know people in your life a little at a time, these folks become more and more themselves as the story unfolds.

The timing, setting, filming, music, and subtleties of the characters and the script work beautifully so that you fall right into it all.

The ending is tender, wistful, and the characters just seem to go their own way. This is like that book you read, where halfway through you started dreading the last few pages.

Why is it that all the best movies never seem to make it big? Not enough explosions, car chases, exploding heads, sex scenes? Sometimes it seems that way. Wrestling Ernest Hemingway got barely a moment in the theaters despite the presence of two heavy hitters like Robert Duvall and Richard Harris. It's a real sleeper.

Harris plays Frank, a down-at-the-heels wreck of a dissolute old sea captain and Duvall plays Walter, a retired Cuban barber, very fastidious and introverted and a bachelor. These two polar opposites, alone in their old age, develop a devoted but rocky friendship wherein they learn a lot from each other. The movie has a whole lot to say about loneliness, friendship, old age, living life, and caring and it says it in a strong, yet understated and beautiful way.

It is worth comparing with the glitzy and ineffective "Grumpy Old Men", which tried to be both serious and a comedy and failed at both. This is the `serious' half of that movie done right, even brilliantly.

The odd title comes from Frank's story - repeated ad nauseum to anyone whose ear he can grab - about how he once wrestled Ernest Hemingway in 1936. The screenplay is touching in a restrained way that is all the more effective for its restraint. No tear-jerker scenes to wring the emotion from the audience, and yet it is more emotionally powerful than a lot of run-of-the-mill hankie-twisters. The plot moves to a predictably sad ending, but then moves beyond that to a quiet reaffirmation of life.

The acting is top-notch, as one would expect, although Duvall's Spanish accent is better than Harris' American one. In particular I cannot speak too highly of Duvall in this role. This is the direct opposite of the "Great Santini"-type roles that he does so well, and he is astonishingly effective in playing this fastidious, gentle, shy, repressed, soft-spoken old man. It is a joy to watch him make this character real.

I once heard some critic remark that one mark of a good movie is if you find yourself caring about the characters. On that scale this movie is 12 out of a possible 10.

Shirley MacLaine and Piper Laurie put in well-turned performances, as well as Sandra Bullock in an early appearance.