Papa Hemingway in Cuba

Parental Rating: R

Contains: Language    Nudity    Violence    Adult Content    

Jill's Review

Opens April 29, 2016

Runs 110 minutes

This is the first Hollywood movie to be filmed in Cuba since 1959, the year of the actual events in the film. We find Papa Hemingway (Adrian Sparks) and his second wife Mary (Joely Richardson) living a nice life on their estate in Cuba. Ed Myers (Giovanni Ribisi) is a reporter with a Miami paper and an avid Hemingway fan. When Hemingway actually responds to a letter that Ed writes to him, Ed is ecstatic and flies to Cuba to meet his idol. This is the beginning of a mentor/mentee sort of relationship. Ed travels to Cuba to pick Hemingway's brain and also dotes on Hemingway's wife. She treats him like a son. But, the revolution is brewing in Cuba and all is not as it appears on the Hemingway homefront. Soon, Ed learns that the FBI and the IRS are investigating Hemingway, that he often drinks too much and becomes very belligerent and that he might just be on the verge of suicide. This opens Ed's eyes. Hemingway is a flawed man but still a great writer. It also makes Ed realize that it is time to head home to face what is important to him in his own life.

I really enjoyed this movie - more than I expected. It is based on the real relationship between Denne Bart Petitclerc, a Miami based reporter (who goes by Ed Myers in the film for some reason) and Ernest Hemingway. This was very near the end of Hemingway's life. In fact, he committed suicide about a year and a half later in Idaho. The film touches on his growing paranoia and unhappiness. But, for a little while, we see the peaceful life he and Mary lived in Cuba (filmed at his actual estate which is now a museum) and some of the people who were in their lives at that time. And, the turbulence and unrest that was growing around them at the beginning of the Cuban Revolution. Such an interesting time and film. Adrian Sparks looks just like Ernest Hemingway and Giovanni Ribisi is great as a naive reporter slowly turning into a writer. Also, look for a quick cameo by Mariel Hemingway - his real granddaughter. Overall, I really enjoyed this film. If you like entertaining biopics, then this might be for you. Go see it.

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