It's 1918 northern Italy. It's the last year of the war. The Italians face a massive invasion by the Austrians. The Americans have only sent doctors and nurses. Agnes von Kurowsky (Sandra Bullock) is one of those nurses. 22 year old aspiring reporter Ernest Hemingway (Chris O'Donnell) joined the Red Cross and is desperate to get to the front lines where he gets injured. Agnes manages to save his leg from the arrogant backwards Italian doctor.
It all boils down to this. I don't buy Chris O'Donnell as Ernest Hemingway. I can't say that I know exactly who Hemingway was at 22. Sure, he's not Papa then but he has to give some sense of Papa in the making. When O'Donnell insists on going to the front, he sounds like a kid whining for an ice cream cone. He's not Hemingway. I'm not saying that he's not a good actor. It is simply beyond his range and his personality. As for Bullock, she is well within her range. She is this character, determined and caring. One of my favorite novel is A Farewell to Arms. That story has a harrowing war scene. This war movie is missing the war. It has a bit of fighting but it's not intense. This is a low intensity romance. If I ignore the Hemingway aspect, this would still be a rather bland romance without much drama. At the end of the movie, Agnes claims that she had changed Ernest from the Chris O'Donnell boy into the angry macho Hemingway. I would respectfully disagree. One wouldn't do a personality switch like that without brain injury. Now I wouldn't exclude the possibility of a brain injury during the war.
It all boils down to this. I don't buy Chris O'Donnell as Ernest Hemingway. I can't say that I know exactly who Hemingway was at 22. Sure, he's not Papa then but he has to give some sense of Papa in the making. When O'Donnell insists on going to the front, he sounds like a kid whining for an ice cream cone. He's not Hemingway. I'm not saying that he's not a good actor. It is simply beyond his range and his personality. As for Bullock, she is well within her range. She is this character, determined and caring. One of my favorite novel is A Farewell to Arms. That story has a harrowing war scene. This war movie is missing the war. It has a bit of fighting but it's not intense. This is a low intensity romance. If I ignore the Hemingway aspect, this would still be a rather bland romance without much drama. At the end of the movie, Agnes claims that she had changed Ernest from the Chris O'Donnell boy into the angry macho Hemingway. I would respectfully disagree. One wouldn't do a personality switch like that without brain injury. Now I wouldn't exclude the possibility of a brain injury during the war.