If the viewer were to base him- or herself on the Hemingway represented in Yari's Papa ... he or she would likely never open a single volume of Hemingway's writing.

| Feb 11, 2021

We never get a sense of what we're supposed to gain here.

| Original Score: C- | Jul 13, 2020

The actors do their best, but the plodding, unimaginative direction reduces the film to a dull docu-drama,

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 7, 2019

Papa: Hemingway in Cuba is a stunning portrait of one of the greatest authors and storytellers of the 20th century.

| Aug 6, 2018

It's godawful, with trite dialogue, poor performances, and painfully bad editing. (You know that editing is bad when you notice it.)

| Sep 27, 2017

Papa just wallows in the haze of nostalgia.

| Aug 22, 2017

The most impressive part of Papa is that it's the first American movie to be shot in Cuba since 1959. As far as the film itself, however, it might as well have been titled The Old Drunk and the Sea.

| Jan 2, 2017

It was shot in Cuba at Hemingway's actual house and haunts, but that's all there is to recommend about this tired film.

| Original Score: 2/5 | May 6, 2016

could have been a tour de force or even a voyeuristic pleasure, instead it's a disappointment of the most galling kind

| Original Score: 2/5 | May 3, 2016

Uneven, overly expository and unconvincing...

| Original Score: 3/10 | May 3, 2016

The idea of the story is good,; the execution and acting are not. "Papa" would not be pleased.

| Original Score: 5/10 | May 3, 2016

There are elements of truth and sublimity, but it wanders too much into clichés and easy plot devices.

| Original Score: 5/10 | May 3, 2016

It turns one of America's larger-than-life icons into a sniveling, paranoid old man, who -- in Sparks' incapable hands -- lacks an ounce of gravitas.

| Original Score: C- | Apr 30, 2016

While the lackluster drama includes Hemingway, it's more about a Hemingway fan.

| Apr 29, 2016

A film that is beautiful to look at but lacks clear vision.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 29, 2016

Sparks conveys the author's sometimes overlooked sensitivity, and the actual Cuban locations add flavor, but the film is pretty flat.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 29, 2016

[T]he entire production is embarrassingly amateurish.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Apr 29, 2016

In the end, it's a museum piece: even the drunken screaming matches between Hemingway and his wife feel staged.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Apr 29, 2016

As the first U.S. film shot in Cuba since Castro came to power in 1959, Papa gives us sights to revel in. Oddly, what hurts is the clunky, overripe script.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 29, 2016

Sincerely written and well acted "Papa Hemingway in Cuba" is a micro-budgeted film that will play well for students of the famous author.

| Original Score: 5.5/10 | Apr 29, 2016