Hemingway & Gellhorn

Hemingway & Gellhorn-480P

Hemingway & Gellhorn-360P

Hemingway & Gellhorn-480P

Hemingway & Gellhorn-360P

Hemingway & Gellhorn_720p(480P)

source: Hemingway & Gellhorn

Hemingway & Gellhorn

What exactly was Phillip Kaufman trying for with this film? Kaufman's a pretty great director, but the material he's given to work with here doesn't even succeed as melodrama. It's not flattering to Gelhorn, so that's out. Hemingway's already been (justifiably) reviled in many other outings. Most of the war sequences are either simply unbelievable or grotesquely long. It takes a special kind of anti-talent to make conflict and history boring, but Jerry Stahl and Barbara Turner take it there in spades. It's not a plausible love story, or even a true one (Gelhorn cheated many times on Hemingway). It's not inspiring, interesting, or fascinating. Why HBO let them shoot a 155 minute opus that amounts to another lame 9 1/2 Weeks parody is just staggering. Avoid this film, it's as narcissistic and self-indulgent as Hemingway's overrated body of work and reputation. He was more a product of marketing than literature. So is this movie.

I am disappointed that this film was not better. I wanted to like it so much, as it starred two of my favourite actors, had cameos of many well known performers, and had a great story to tell. Unlike other bio-pics, I was not able to be transported to another time to learn about these people. My attention kept being drawn to the poorly written dialogue and odd directing choices (sepia toned segments were gimmicky and distracting). Both Kidman and Owen were miscast in these roles, but Hollywood always has to have its big names, even if they have to shoe- horn them in, and they got a shitty result. I could see Robin Wiegert or Sarah Paulsen killing in this role, if it was better written.

I loved this movie. I was enthralled with the love story between Hemmingway & Gelhorn. Knowing little about his life and really nothing about hers I was drawn into the film by their amazing lives. What a trailblazer she was. It's one of the best performances I have seen from Nichole Kidman or Clive Owen. They had great chemistry together. I believed that they were their characters. This movie was sexy, funny, sad and complicated. Just like life. I also got into the historical aspect of the film which I also knew little about before. One of my favorite parts was Robert Duval as the Russian general. He was awesome. This is the best movie that I have seen on HBO in a while.