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The first Hollywood production filmed in Cuba since 1959, Papa Hemingway in Cuba is one of those biopics that depicts its star through an audience surrogate. In this case, it's legendary writer Ernest Hemingway in his later years living in Cuba before the revolution in 1959. The audience's surrogate character is real-life journalist Denne Bart Petitclerc, who wrote the book and screenplay that the film is based on.
It's a touching tale: Petitclerc describes Hemingway as the father he never had, and the film is the story of Petitclerc's experiences befriending Hemingway and his wife Mary just before everything goes to hell in both their lives. While Giovanni Ribisi does a decent job playing Petitclerc, it's hard to overlook the fact that he's a 41-year-old playing a young journalist who is often referred to as a "kid" and spends most of his time struggling to find his voice and commit to his girlfriend. Adrian Sparks as the mature Hemingway is like a one-man play, but on film. Sometimes he hits his stride, at other times it feels as if he is reading lines to a casting director. It does not help that a lot of the dialogue is written for the audience: "We will be your family now, kid!"
With its dead-end story, the flick needed a good director, great performances or a solid script. First-time director Bob Yari is decent at setting up scenes, if uninspired, but the editing is jarringly terrible, with a feeling that whole conversations or connecting scenes are missing. And for a film written by a Hemingway protegé, you would expect better than "The faces of the dead are always the same, just fuckin' kids." Then again, Petitclerc died in 2006, so I doubt he was very hands-on during production.
The actresses make this dull, male-centric story more watchable. Minka Kelly brightens up scenes with her inherent charm but gets stuck saying terrible lines like, "If I got that letter, I would fall in love with you instantly!" She deserves better roles. Joely Richardson as Mary Hemingway has the meatiest role as a former journalist whose warm, motherly personality has a gravitational pull equal to Ernest's macho bravado storytelling. She is not afraid to call him out, either. There is no more to recommend.
It's hard to make a film about writers without good writing. Instead, Papa feels like a decent off-Broadway stage production and a grand excuse to go to Cuba.
Critic's Grade: C
SEE IT: Papa Hemingway in Cuba is rated R. It opens Friday at Fox Tower.
Willamette Week
