HotToastyRag I thought Wrestling Ernest Hemingway was going to be a heartwarming, lightly funny movie about old folks, like Cocoon or The Boynton Beach Club. It's not, and if you're looking for a good movie, don't watch this one.Sure, Robert Duvall has a pretty good accent as a Cuban retiree, and Sandra Bullock is well cast as a low-class but kind-hearted waitress, but this movie is pretty bad. It could have been so much better, if the screenwriters had thought a little longer. For example, at the start of the film, Richard Harris keeps talking about his son, and how excited he is to see him for a visit. Wouldn't it be an interesting twist if Richard's son was dead, but he had Alzheimer's and didn't remember? Or when Shirley MacLaine complains about her ex-husband, wouldn't it be clever if Richard Harris was her ex-husband and that's why she's always hostile towards him? I won't spoil anything, but this movie isn't very clever or twisty.It's also pretty depressing. Richard's always talking about how lonely he is, and when he reaches out for companionship, nobody likes him. It's not very inspiring to watch an old person living alone in a retirement community, trying and failing to make friends, trying and failing to have a romance, all the while melting in the Florida heat because his apartment doesn't have a working air conditioner.If you like Richard Harris, watch This Sporting Life. If you like Robert Duvall, watch A Family Thing. If you like Shirley MacLaine, watch The Apartment. You don't have to watch Wrestling Ernest Hemingway.

rosner_edie Wrestling Ernest Hemingway is a example of how a really fine movie doesn't need to have tons of special effects or a huge budget. This small simple film deals with real life problems and emotions encountered by aging adults. The acting is excellent as is the script. Here is where the rubber hits the road in the serious industry of film making. Richard Harris does an excellent job portraying an aged lonely Sea Captain, who interacts with an equally lonely Cuban American former barber played by Robert Duval. Although from very different back grounds and cultures they share a common bond due to their isolation from most of society. Sandra Bullock, who portrays a young waitress in a Miami Beach café provides a focal point for the film as Duval develops a crush on her. There is little fluff in this film as the script, setting and acting provide all the elements need to create a fine film, durable for years to come.

moonspinner55 Leisurely-paced, remarkably sweet and entertaining character study about an elderly Irish codger in Florida striking up an uneasy friendship with a retired Cuban barber. Not especially original or revealing, but wonderfully acted and directed, with a beautiful sense of atmosphere. Written by 21-year-old Steve Conrad, whose natural-flowing dialogue and character development admirably shucks a formulaic pattern. In the leads, Robert Duvall and Richard Harris prove to be a striking screen match (at times, they may struggle with their characters' overall make-up, yet they create genuine people--not caricatures); Shirley MacLaine is also fine in a supporting role (in her book, "Thank My Lucky Stars", MacLaine gives hint this film wasn't a positive experience, though you wouldn't guess it from the end results or from MacLaine's excellent performance). Sandra Bullock also shines as a waitress. Not a blockbuster or a career watermark for anyone, but a gentle, moving film that leaves a thoughtful trace of its passion for life behind. *** from ****

stipanich-1 In 1992, I was a literary agent at Writers & Artists Agency in LosAngeles. In a town where new scripts by unproven young writerscan't get their scripts read, I was one of the few agents who waseager to find new talent. One day, I received a letter from a youngwriter asking me to read his script. The title intrigued me and thestory he described demanded that I read the script. The young writer's name wasSteve Conrad and he had just graduated from the University ofChicago. The script was "Wrestling Ernest Hemingway", and fromthe very first page, I knew I had to represent it. The writing was sosimple, so poetic, so powerful, so witty and so real that I calledhim before I had even finished reading the script. I was able toconvince Todd Black, an enthusiastic young producer, to read itand his passion matched mine. He sold it to Warner Bros. andthey made the movie. In a Hollywood rarity, Steve remained thesole writer of the script.I am so gratified to read the User Comments and to see how thislittle gem of a movie has affected so many people. I am no longera literary agent; I now teach English and History to 6th graders. Ishall always be so proud that I had some part in bringing thiswonderful writer and his script to the screen, and that so many ofyou have shared my passion about it.