Hemingway And Gellhorn (2012)

In 1936 Florida, the journalist Martha Gellhorn (Nicole Kidman) meets the famous novelist Ernest Hemingway (Clive Owen). They would become lovers and four years later, she would become his third wife. But their tumultuous marriage lasts only five years. Directed by Philip Kaufman (THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING). I can't speak for the authenticity of this true story but it rings false. I'm not saying it is false, just that it feels phony. If the film had been a roman a clef and changed the names, I think it would have played better. Kidman is excellent (no surprise) and rises above the screenplay's deficiencies. No so Clive Owen who embodies Hemingway's charisma but little else, certainly not the man himself, at least as history knows him. He's too smooth and not enough roughness around the edges no matter how hard he tries. It doesn't help that his "American" accent is sloppy. As a historical biopic, it's a failure because we can't believe it. If only they'd changed the identities like they did with Jose Robles, who's called Paco Zarra (Rodrigo Santoro) here. The large cast includes Robert Duvall, Tony Shalhoub, Diane Baker, David Strathairn, Parker Posey, Joan Chen and Peter Coyote.