Wrestling Ernest Hemingway

Critics Consensus

Predictable but moving, Wrestling Ernest Hemingway is an understated and melancholic drama that gets plenty of mileage out of an outstanding cast that includes Robert Duvall, Richard Harris, Shirley MacLaine, and Sandra Bullock.

57%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 21

69%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 1,415

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Movie Info

Two old men in a Florida town become friends more out of loneliness than compatibility. Ex-sea captain Frank (Richard Harris) is a garrulous teller of tales; Walter (Robert Duvall), a dignified former barber. Frank hopes to bed either the woman he meets at the movies (Piper Laurie) or his flinty landlady (Shirley MacLaine). Walter frequents a café, where he shyly flirts with a young waitress (Sandra Bullock). But it's the bond between the two men that thrives -- until their bitter falling-out.
  • Rating:
    PG-13
  • Genre:
    drama
  • Original Language:
    English
  • Director:
    Randa Haines
  • Release Date (Streaming):
  • Box Office (Gross USA):
    $62.6K
  • Runtime:
  • Production Co:
    Warner Bros.
  • Sound Mix:
    Stereo, Surround

Cast & Crew

Robert Duvall
Walter
Richard Harris
Frank
Shirley MacLaine
Helen Cooney
Sandra Bullock
Elaine
Piper Laurie
Georgia
Micole Mercurio
Bernice
Marty Belafsky
Ned Ryan
Ed Amatrudo
Henry's Dad
Randa Haines
Director
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Critic Reviews for Wrestling Ernest Hemingway

All Critics (21) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (12) | Rotten (9)

  • 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.

    June 14, 2009 | Full Review…

    Richard Schickel

    TIME Magazine

  • 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.

    June 27, 2007 | Rating: C

    Emanuel Levy

    Variety

  • 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.

    January 26, 2006 | Full Review…
    Time Out

  • Instead of simply assuming that the old have interesting lives, the film never stops congratulating itself for being daring enough to focus on them.

    May 20, 2003 | Rating: 2/5

    Caryn James

    New York Times

  • 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.

    January 1, 2000 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

    James Berardinelli

    ReelViews

  • 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.

    January 1, 2000 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

    Roger Ebert

    Chicago Sun-Times
View All Critic Reviews (21)

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