Wrestling Ernest Hemingway is a superior example of the Old Codgers Flick, that sub-species of the Buddy Movie dealing with lonely, disparate old-timers bonding and bellyaching in endearing fashion.

| Dec 22, 2021

Mostly dull but likable senior citizen melodrama.

| Original Score: C+ | Dec 28, 2015

Wrestling Ernest Hemingway aspires to be serious about its subject. Yet in a curious way this sobriety works against it. Frank and Walt turn into schematically contrasting case studies, and the movie's sympathy for them eventually becomes patronizing.

| Jun 14, 2009

Offers little in the way of narrative drive or plot conflict, and what does happen is far from surprising. MacLaine and Piper Laurie are more or less wasted in supporting roles, and pretty Sandra Bullock is given almost nothing to do.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 14, 2009

This is a film of two superlative performances from Richard Harris and Robert Duvall, who play an odd couple drawn together by their common loneliness as they become friends in the winter of their lives

| Jul 19, 2008

Randa Haines' sappy, rather dull melodrama about the friendship between two eccentric old men is mostly a showcase for its stars, Robert Duvall and Richard Harris.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Jun 27, 2007

There aren't really any surprises, but it's a delight to see a movie which idles away without anything more pressing on its mind than people.

| Jan 26, 2006

A deeply moving and wonderfully acted film about loneliness and friendship. This is one to treasure.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 5, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 28, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 25, 2005

A slow-paced and sentimental film, but still a pleasure to watch as the two brilliant and dignified leads play off each other so well.

| Jul 20, 2004

Funny, touching, understated. Melancholy, bittersweet, lovely.

Full Review | Jul 7, 2004

Instead of simply assuming that the old have interesting lives, the film never stops congratulating itself for being daring enough to focus on them.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | May 20, 2003

Duvall and Harris are as touching, as they are mezmerising.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 19, 2002

Portrays the salutary ways in which two very dissimiliar elders enrich each other's lives.

| Aug 20, 2002

Wrestling Ernest Hemingway is melodramatic, and its pacing is rather slow, but it is also filled with fine acting and quirky but believable relationships, and ultimately proves quite satisfying.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jan 1, 2000

The 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.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 1, 2000

It's another right of passage movie that pinballs off of clichs as though that is a way to achieve meaning.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 1, 2000

This movie is so loaded down with calendar-poster sentiments, you may find yourself wanting to wrestle the filmmakers.

| Jan 1, 2000

Steve Conrad's debut screenplay says little that's new, but the actors make it fresher and more powerful than it has a right to be.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jan 1, 2000