I can understand how this movie can compile a variety of feelings, pro and con. I had to really think about how to rate this film and where to go in my review of it. Sometimes a film does not require a linear story to make its point, nor does it require a definitive plot. In the case of this lavishly filmed study of Hemingway's semi-autobiographical stories, I drew my inspiration for my feelings towards it from my love for stories that simply give us slices of life. Richard Beymer, an actor who I felt has been mostly maligned in reviews I've read, gives what I consider a truly admirable performance as Nick Adams, a handsome young man desperate to find himself after rather rough beginning. That is because of the contrast of his parents-an extremely religious, but basically unloving mother (Jessica Tandy) and a weak-willed, hen-pecked father (Arthur Kennedy) who has given him the only love he's ever known. Tandy's performance is brilliant because she shows the hypocrisy of a woman so into God that she's forgotten about humanity, and Kennedy is outstanding because he shows a man so filled with love that God's grace shines over him, not his unknowingly empty-hearted wife. The son cherishes his father but silently wishes he would open his eyes to the emptiness of love in their home. This causes him to decide to go out into the world and seek life elsewhere.
Out in the world, Beymer encounters an interesting group of eccentrics, finds himself closer to God when he becomes an Ambulance driver in Italy during World War I, and finally returns home to confront the truth about his family. The cast is filled with many famous names in cameos. I did not recognize Paul Newman at all (!) as the mentally challenged prizefighter. He gives a truthful performance, and is wisely supported by Juano Hernandez. Two former leading men of 20th Century Fox's history (James Dunn and Dan Dailey) come on to give little bits of Americana; Dunn as a wise telegraph operator, and Dailey as an alcoholic vaudevillian. In Italy, there are some brilliant performances by Eli Wallach and Ricardo Montalban who provide some wonderful human moments of kindness in a horrible situation. Susan Strasberg, as Beymer's Italian love interest, is excellent.
The conclusion is a tragic revelation that explodes into a major confrontation between Beymer and Tandy, and brings the story full circle. What has transpired in this circle is that Beymer left his small Michigan town a young man and came back fully grown up determined to seek his own ideal of what his destiny is. This is a lushly filmed epic with a beautiful music score and a haunting message that will touch those who open their hearts to find it. Those who only know Beymer from his rather wooden performance in "West Side Story" will find him more engaging here, playing a role that Montgomery Clift might have been played a decade before.
Out in the world, Beymer encounters an interesting group of eccentrics, finds himself closer to God when he becomes an Ambulance driver in Italy during World War I, and finally returns home to confront the truth about his family. The cast is filled with many famous names in cameos. I did not recognize Paul Newman at all (!) as the mentally challenged prizefighter. He gives a truthful performance, and is wisely supported by Juano Hernandez. Two former leading men of 20th Century Fox's history (James Dunn and Dan Dailey) come on to give little bits of Americana; Dunn as a wise telegraph operator, and Dailey as an alcoholic vaudevillian. In Italy, there are some brilliant performances by Eli Wallach and Ricardo Montalban who provide some wonderful human moments of kindness in a horrible situation. Susan Strasberg, as Beymer's Italian love interest, is excellent.
The conclusion is a tragic revelation that explodes into a major confrontation between Beymer and Tandy, and brings the story full circle. What has transpired in this circle is that Beymer left his small Michigan town a young man and came back fully grown up determined to seek his own ideal of what his destiny is. This is a lushly filmed epic with a beautiful music score and a haunting message that will touch those who open their hearts to find it. Those who only know Beymer from his rather wooden performance in "West Side Story" will find him more engaging here, playing a role that Montgomery Clift might have been played a decade before.