Wrestling Ernest Hemingway

Frank is a retired Irish seaman. Walter is a retired Cuban barber. They are two lonely old men living in Florida, trapped in the emptiness of their own lives.

When they meet in a park, the flamboyant Frank is finally able to start a conversation with the introverted Walter after several attempts. They begin to spend time together and become friends, sometimes meeting at the snack shop where Walter orders the same food every day and becomes fond of Elaine, a young waitress.

Frank's salty talk and crude behavior in public offend Walter and threaten their friendship. In the meantime, Frank attempts to start a romance with Georgia, a woman he meets at the movies, while dealing with Helen, his landlord who is put off by his manner.

• Robert Duvall as Walter
• Richard Harris as Frank
• Shirley MacLaine as Helen Cooney
• Sandra Bullock as Elaine
• Piper Laurie as Georgia

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 59% approval rating based on 22 reviews, with an average score of 5.9/10. The site's consensus states: "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."{{cite web|title=Wrestling Ernest Hemingway|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wrestling_ernest_hemingway|website=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Fandango Media|access-date=December 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113204133/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wrestling_ernest_hemingway|archive-date=January 13, 2022|url-status=live}}

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "[T]he 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."{{cite news|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wrestling-ernest-hemingway-1994|title=Wrestling Ernest Hemingway|last=Ebert|first=Roger|author-link=Roger Ebert|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|publisher=Sun-Times Media Group|date=January 21, 1994|access-date=March 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221140318/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wrestling-ernest-hemingway-1994|archive-date=December 21, 2021|url-status=live|via=RogerEbert.com}} {{Rating|3|4}} Caryn James of The New York Times gave credit to Harris and Duvall for giving "two intelligent but distant performances" and the actresses for being "appealing" in their "understandably tiny" roles, but felt the film suffers from an overlong runtime, "an easy, sentimental impulse" to its scenes and succumbs to the "scenery chewing and predictability" of its elderly-focused tale, saying "Instead of simply assuming that the old have interesting lives, the film never stops congratulating itself for being daring enough to focus on them. It shows the terrible strain of trying too hard."{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/17/movies/review-film-harris-as-an-aging-macho-man.html|title=Harris As an Aging Macho Man|last=James|first=Caryn|author-link=Caryn James|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 17, 1993|access-date=March 14, 2022|url-access=limited|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004215247/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/17/movies/review-film-harris-as-an-aging-macho-man.html|archive-date=October 4, 2020|url-status=live}} {{Rating|2|5}} Louis Black of The Austin Chronicle praised Harris and Duvall's screen chemistry, and the actresses for being "outstanding" in their roles but was critical of the "superficial melodramatic stereotyping" throughout the story, saying "[I]t's another right of passage movie that pinballs off of clichés as though that is a way to achieve meaning. But there are those performances."{{cite news|url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/1994-02-04/wrestling-ernest-hemingway/|title=Wrestling Ernest Hemingway|last=Black|first=Louis|newspaper=The Austin Chronicle|date=February 4, 1994|access-date=March 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314021103/https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/1994-02-04/wrestling-ernest-hemingway/|archive-date=March 14, 2022|url-status=live}} {{Rating|2|5}} Ty Burr of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C grade, saying it "feels canned and inert" with Haines' direction and Michael Convertino's score turning the male bonding scenes into "swollen epiphanies" when compared to the "richly funny observations" in Grumpy Old Men, adding that Harris gives "a gutsy performance in a gutless movie."{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/1994/01/14/wrestling-ernest-hemingway/|title=Wrestling Ernest Hemingway|last=Burr|first=Ty|author-link=Ty Burr|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|publisher=Time Inc.|date=January 14, 1994|access-date=March 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314022544/https://ew.com/article/1994/01/14/wrestling-ernest-hemingway/|archive-date=March 14, 2022|url-status=live}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0108596}}
• {{mojo title|wrestlingernesthemingway}}

{{Randa Haines}}

{{Steven Conrad}}

Category:1993 films

Category:1993 romantic drama films

Category:1990s American films

Category:1990s English-language films

Category:1990s buddy drama films

Category:American buddy drama films

Category:American romantic drama films

Category:Films about old age

Category:Films directed by Randa Haines

Category:Films with screenplays by Steven Conrad

Category:Films scored by Michael Convertino

Category:Films set in Florida

Category:English-language romantic drama films

Category:English-language buddy drama films