This little indie gem popped up out of nowhere; I didn’t even have it on my radar as I usually do from previews or the NYT movie reviews I get every week.

Based on real events, Papa Hemingway in Cuba depicts a few years in the late 1950s when Ernest Hemingway lived in Havana with his wife Mary.

These were no ordinary years.

The Miami Globe reporter Ed Myers  meets and befriends the man who is his  idol as well as America’s most famous author.  There’s no lack of drama in this one. The events leading up to the Castro Revolution in Cuba, Hemingway’s battles (both internal and external), and the personal and professional adventures of a young journalist make this film compelling and dramatic.

The acting was solid with Adrian Spark delivering a believable Hemingway and Giovanni Ribisi as Ed Myers, the journalist. While not a biopic of the great man, the events of the film hint at the author’s unique style. He was an  archetype of manhood for his day, the first half of the twentieth century: he drank, fished, hunted, seduced, and played in the shadows of war and politics.  Yet the artist in him brought a sophistication to the rough and ready mensch. Ed (whom he calls “The Kid”) learns how to fight a marlin, gets tips on writing, and gets mentored on avoiding regret.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the film. It’s the same story again and again: when I watch a good film, there’s hardly anyone else in the theater.

At least you’ll be able to watch it on Redbox or Netflix soon enough.

WH