There are many things I did not know in this movie. I learned "Old man and sea" in my high school and I barely knew Hemingway spent his life in Cuba for a while. However, I did not know Hemingway was involved in the civil war in Cuba and he committed suicide. It may be common sense to some people, but people who did not grew up in the U.S. do not know about it. I did not know Ed Myer either. The relationship Ed Myer and Hemingway was complicated. Ed Myer looked for his father figure in Hemingway, but I did not think they bulit that kind of relationship because Hemingway misunderstood Ed and punched his face. Their acting does not show what kind of relationship Ed and Hemingway really had. Hemingway also had a difficult relationship with his wife. Whenever Mary talked about her successful career in the past, Hemingway looked offended. Mary said " I love you"to him and papa looked pleased, but it did not fit the story. In reality, Hemingway committed suicide anyway. Around the complicated emotion and Hemingway's depression were not acted well. Ed myer and his girlfriend were having difficult time and Ed Myer had doubts about a relationship or a woman. Then suddenly, he decided to marry her. The girlfriend was angry, but she was kissing him. That part was happening too sudden. So I gave the movie 6 not 7.

I really wanted to like this film as I am a Hemingway fan like many people. I read a few reviews that trashed the film and then I came across one that said "I don't know why all the bad reviews" and that was enough for me to download a check it out. The film started OK. I like Ribisi (Sneaky Pete)and Minka Kelly is simply beautiful but from there it goes down hill. If they had shown Cuba (ala Woody Allen New York/Rome/Paris etc) it would have been more watchable but they didn't and it wasn't.The acting. Oh my goodness, to say it was wooden would be the understatement of the 21st century. The worst of the bunch is the guy that plays Hemingway. I've never seen or heard Hemingway in real life but I can't imagine he was the passionless bore he seemed to be. Maybe not a fair criticism but I like the way Hemingway was portrayed in Midnight in Paris. Halfway or so through the film, there is a get together and a confrontation of sorts between EH and his wife...here is where you get bad acting at it's finest. Ribisi seemed out of place but I believe that is more a product of a poorly written story than his skill set.The story. How bad is it? Let me count the ways. Never mind, I have better things to do. How this is rated above "3" is beyond me.

For those who admire the writing of Ernest Hemingway, this film offers a wonderful perspective into the time that he lived in Cuba late in his life. This period also coincides with the overthrow of Batista in Cuba by the rebel forces of Fidel Castro. The film is successful in blending biography and history in a well-photographed motion picture--the first American film since the height of Cold War with location filming in Cuba.The film is based on the true life story of writer Denne Petitclerc, a young journalist who formed a bond with his idol Hemingway while writing for the Miami Herald in the late 1950s. Peticlerc sent a letter to Hemingway, who responded warmly. A virtual father-son relationship ensued in their meetings in Cuba.Some of the most interesting portions of the film are those that bring to the forefront such political developments as the Cuban revolution led by Castro and the troubling harassment of Hemingway by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. There is even a scene where the journalist meets with American mafia boss Santos Trafficante.The personal side of the film comes across in a fine performance by Adrian Sparks as the aging Hemingway, losing his powers as a writer and fighting personal demons. Giovanni Ribisi is good as the journalist, who provides support to Hemingway during the crisis that eventually ends in Idaho when Hemingway took his life. There are good supporting performances from Minka Kelly as Deb, the journalist's girlfriend, Joely Richardson as the feisty Mary Hemingway, and James Remar as Trafficante.The film might have probed deeper into the artistry of Hemingway and how his life story figured so prominently in his works of fiction. Occasionally, the famous books, "A Farewell to Arms," "For Whom the Bell Tolls," and "The Old Man and the Sea" were referenced. But the backdrop of Hemingway's creative process in bringing those literary works to life could have been explored more completely. In that way, we would know why Hemingway was such a great inspiration to so many writers.

Sometimes the importance of a film transcends its subject matter. "Papa: Hemingway in Cuba" (R, 1:49) is one such film. It was the first Hollywood production shot on the island nation of Cuba since that country's communist revolution brought Fidel Castro to power in 1959. The gradual opening of Cuban society and subsequent easing of tensions between Cuba and the U.S. created the possibility of such a production, while depicting the twilight years of writer Ernest Hemingway served as the perfect project.The time of his residence in Cuba was the last happy period in the amazing and enigmatic life of one of America's greatest writers. Hemingway wrote as a newspaper journalist, war correspondent, short story writer, poet, playwright and novelist. He wrote in a deceptively simple style which won him the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize and influenced countless other writers. He gathered ideas and inspiration from his experiences in three different wars (both World Wars and the Spanish Civil War), living and working in several different countries in North America and Europe (including Canada, France and Austria), his passion for the outdoors (especially hunting and fishing) and his turbulent romantic life (typified in his four marriages). He was a man who survived one hospitalization for war wounds, two airplane crashes, three car accidents and several different illnesses, yet worsened his health further through a lifetime of heavy drinking. Hemingway's was a life of drama and this film excellently portrays a portion of that life."Papa: Hemingway in Cuba" tells the true story of the writer's latter years in Cuba (mostly 1957) as he befriends and mentors a rising writer named Denne Bart Petitclerc – renamed Ed Myers in this script. Ed (Giovanni Ribisi) was abandoned as a child and found inspiration in Hemingway's writing. As a young newspaper reporter, he writes, revises and then hesitates to send a fan letter to his idol. Ed's co-worker and girlfriend, Debbie Hunt (Minka Kelly), mails the letter without Ed's knowledge and Ed gets a surprise telephone call at work from Hemingway (Adrian Sparks) who invites Ed to go fishing with him in Cuba.Ed makes a number of visits to Cuba during which his friendship with Hemingway and his wife, Mary (Joely Richardson), grows, just as Hemingway's own physical and mental state deteriorates. Also going downhill is his relationship with Debbie (strained by the frequency of those trips) and the political and security situation in Cuba, which is drifting toward revolution. Ed fishes, swims, talks and socializes with the Hemingways and their diverse group of friends as he witnesses his idol's behavior become more erratic and observes incidents that demonstrate increasing danger for the government and the residents of Cuba. Through all this, Ed struggles to find his voice as a writer, to reconcile the Hemingway he got to know with his image of his literary hero and his reluctance to commit to a woman who clearly loves him."Papa: Hemingway in Cuba" is engaging, enlightening and entrancing. Actually seeing the country of Cuba (including the actual house Hemingway occupied) through the confident lens of cinematographer Ernesto Melara is both beautiful and interesting. The audience also gains a lot of insight into who this famous man was a person, much the same way as Movie Fans who saw 2011's "My Week with Marilyn", which is another true story told through the eyes of an ordinary young man who gets to spend time with his world-famous idol (although Michelle Williams' legs are much more attractive than Adrian Sparks').The story is economically told by a script from Denne Bart Petitclerc himself, who sadly died early in the production of this film, and the direction of Bob Yari, who, interestingly, has been a successful feature film producer for over 15 years (including 2004's Best Picture Oscar winner "Crash"). Bringing the film's well-conceived drama and well-written dialog to life is a stellar multi-national cast featuring award-worthy performances from Ribisi, Kelly and especially Richardson and Sparks who also happen to look a lot like the real people they are playing. All this combines to create a film which is pleasing to the eye, the ear, the intellect and the discerning moviegoer's sense of enjoyment. "A-"