critics consensus

Nicole Kidman's poised performance provides some measure of reclamation for Martha Gellhorn, but this trite historical melodrama reduces Ernest Hemingway and the era that the two war correspondents lived through into a broad caricature. Read critic reviews

Show all services

Rate And Review

Super Reviewer

Rate this movie

Oof, that was Rotten.

Meh, it passed the time.

It’s good – I’d recommend it.

Awesome!

So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

What did you think of the movie? (optional)
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
Super Reviewer
Step 2 of 2

How did you buy your ticket?

Let's get your review verified.
Fandango

AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew

Enter your Ticket Confirmation# located in your email.More Info

Cinemark Coming Soon

We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

Regal Coming Soon

We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

Theater box office or somewhere else
By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
Super Reviewer

Rate this movie

Oof, that was Rotten.

Meh, it passed the time.

It’s good – I’d recommend it.

Awesome!

So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

What did you think of the movie? (optional)
How did you buy your ticket?
- Fandango
- AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew
  
  Enter your Ticket Confirmation# located in your email.More Info
- Cinemark Coming Soon
  
  We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
- Regal Coming Soon
  
  We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
- Theater box office or somewhere else
By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.
You haven’t finished your review yet, want to submit as-is?

You can always edit your review after.
Are you sure?

Verified reviews are considered more trustworthy by fellow moviegoers.
Want to submit changes to your review before closing?

Hemingway & Gellhorn Photos

View All Photos (14)

Movie Info

Writer Ernest Hemingway (Clive Owen) begins a romance with fellow scribe Martha Gellhorn (Nicole Kidman).

Rating:

TVMA
Genre:

drama, biography, romance
Original Language:

English
Director:

Philip Kaufman
Writer:

Jerry Stahl
Release Date (Streaming):

Aug 10, 2016
Runtime:

2h 30m
Production Co:

Attaboy Films, Home Box Office (HBO)

Cast & Crew

Nicole Kidman
Martha Gellhorn

Clive Owen
Ernest Hemingway

David Strathairn
John Dos Passos

Molly Parker
Pauline

Rodrigo Santoro
Zarra

Parker Posey
Mary

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Hemingway & Gellhorn

All Critics (49) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (24) | Rotten (25)

The movie builds a persuasive case for the trailblazing Gellhorn, who worked while Hemingway played. She didn't see herself as a footnote in his life, and this enjoyable movie makes sure she isn't.

June 3, 2020 | Full Review…

Hal Boedeker
Orlando Sentinel
It may be too much to ask for a TV movie based on historical personages with such tumultuous lives to show some restraint. Then again, "too much" isn't a bad way to sum up the problems of Hemingway & Gellhorn.

June 3, 2020 | Full Review…

Donna Bowman
AV Club
Kidman manages quietly to evoke something else of this ferocious, aging journalist -- an underlying and unsettling degree of disappointment and hurt.

June 1, 2020 | Full Review…

Alexandra Fuller
Newsweek
Kidman's Gellhorn, who periodically narrates the story from the future, reflects that they were "good together in war" and had no idea what to do without it. Neither, in a way, does the film

June 1, 2020 | Full Review…

David Hinckley
New York Daily News
Kidman practically swaggers through the role, channeling Lauren Bacall to such a degree that I almost expected her to ask co-star Clive Owen if he knows how to whistle.

June 1, 2020 | Full Review…

Neal Justin
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Though it is clearly based on research, with dialogue that scavenges the principals' own writing, it is never quite believable, either as history or drama.

June 1, 2020 | Full Review…

Robert Lloyd
Los Angeles Times
Hemingway & Gellhorn, for all its awkwardness as historical drama, is never less than interesting to watch, and sometimes captivating.

June 26, 2020 | Full Review…

Adrian Martin
Film Critic: Adrian Martin
Hemingway and Gellhorn couldn't have more wrong with it if it tried. And that's tragic because it does one thing -- and one thing only -- so very right that it deserves to be seen... Rescuing Martha Gellhorn from a pitiable damnation of history.

June 3, 2020 | Full Review…

Jeff Simon
Buffalo News
Despite this narrative unevenness, Stahl and Turner's sharp, literary script -- buoyed by Kidman and Owen's stellar turns -- keeps Hemingway & Gellhorn afloat.

June 3, 2020 | Full Review…

Brice Ezell
PopMatters
It features passionate love scenes, intense images of violence and heart-wrenching emotional moments. It's also often painfully melodramatic and hopelessly predictable despite depicting a (mostly) true story.

June 3, 2020 | Full Review…

Josh Bell
Las Vegas Weekly
There are too many moments when Hemingway & Gellhorn is hard to take seriously and too many performances that fail to make an impact. Ultimately, it leaves you hoping that someone can still serve Gellhorn's memory with a much better film.

June 1, 2020 | Full Review…

Allan Hunter
Screen International
Writers Jerry Stahl and Barbara Turner's arch dialogue suggests an attempt to re-create a film noir or a Bogey-and-Bacall dynamic, but the two end up sounding more like "Bullwinkle's" Boris and Natasha.

June 1, 2020 | Full Review…

Mark A. Perigard
Boston Herald