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Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993)
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Reviews Counted:20
Fresh:12
Rotten:8
Average Rating:5.9/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Frank (Richard Harris) is an amatory ex-seaman. Walt (Robert Duvall) is a reserved haircutter leading an orderly quiet life. When the two lonely old men meet, they become reluctant friends and swap... Frank (Richard Harris) is an amatory ex-seaman. Walt (Robert Duvall) is a reserved haircutter leading an orderly quiet life. When the two lonely old men meet, they become reluctant friends and swap stories about their lifetimes. Together they combat loneliness, old age and their disparate dispositions. But after Frank harasses Walter's friend, Elaine (Sandra Bullock), their relationship is shattered and they are forced to reevaluate one another. A touching story from melodrama filmmaker, Randa Haines, WRESTLING ERNEST HEMINGWAY is clever minimal film. Working with only a tiny cast and a handful of sets, Haines produces a subtle and thought provoking film which closely examines aging and loneliness. Duvall and Harris brilliant as the quarreling old duo. [More]
Starring: Robert Duvall, Richard Harris, Shirley MacLaine, Piper Laurie
Starring: Robert Duvall, Richard Harris, Shirley MacLaine, Piper Laurie, Sandra Bullock
Director: Randa Haines
Director: Randa Haines
Screenwriter: Steve Conrad
Producer: Joe Wizan
Composer: Michael Convertino
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Reviews for Wrestling Ernest Hemingway
Wrestling Ernest Hemingway aspires to be serious about its subject. Yet in a curious way this sobriety works against it. Frank and Walt turn into schematically contrasting case studies, and the movie's sympathy for them eventually becomes patronizing.
Offers little in the way of narrative drive or plot conflict, and what does happen is far from surprising. MacLaine and Piper Laurie are more or less wasted in supporting roles, and pretty Sandra Bullock is given almost nothing to do.
This is a film of two superlative performances from Richard Harris and Robert Duvall, who play an odd couple drawn together by their common loneliness as they become friends in the winter of their lives
Randa Haines' sappy, rather dull melodrama about the friendship between two eccentric old men is mostly a showcase for its stars, Robert Duvall and Richard Harris.
There aren't really any surprises, but it's a delight to see a movie which idles away without anything more pressing on its mind than people.
A deeply moving and wonderfully acted film about loneliness and friendship. This is one to treasure.
A slow-paced and sentimental film, but still a pleasure to watch as the two brilliant and dignified leads play off each other so well.
Instead of simply assuming that the old have interesting lives, the film never stops congratulating itself for being daring enough to focus on them.
Portrays the salutary ways in which two very dissimiliar elders enrich each other's lives.
This movie is so loaded down with calendar-poster sentiments, you may find yourself wanting to wrestle the filmmakers.
Steve Conrad's debut screenplay says little that's new, but the actors make it fresher and more powerful than it has a right to be.
It's another right of passage movie that pinballs off of clichés as though that is a way to achieve meaning.
The movie is essentially about the close observation of behavior. Like some of Hemingway's stories, the real action is all implied. The characters trade small talk, and we sense that larger issues are lurking beneath their cheerfulness.
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