Papa: Hemingway in Cuba
Yari Film Group (YFG) | Release Date: April 29, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
37
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
6
Negative:
9
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 28, 2016
A remarkable treat. It contains information about the writer heretofore unknown, and though it’s a dramatic feature and not a documentary, it claims to tell the truth, without embellishment. Even better, it was written by someone who saw the events depicted firsthand. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesMiriam Di NunzioApr 28, 2016
A film that is beautiful to look at but lacks clear vision. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 29, 2016
As a movie, Papa improves every time it shuts up and allows action to define character. Read full review
50
The New York TimesHelen T. VerongosApr 28, 2016
Bob Yari’s Papa: Hemingway in Cuba is more artifact than art. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaApr 28, 2016
Maybe the best reason to see Papa: Hemingway in Cuba is to catch a glimpse of the real Finca Vigia, the property, with its house and pool, gardens, and tree-lined drive, where Ernest Hemingway lived and wrote - and famously drank - from 1939 until 1960. Pages of For Whom the Bell Tolls were banged out here; so, too, The Old Man and the Sea. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubAdam NaymanApr 27, 2016
It’s the sort of film that’s destined to be the answer to a trivia question, and not much more. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzApr 28, 2016
It’s an awkwardly constructed movie that doesn’t really gel. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckApr 28, 2016
Although based on a true story, this drama directed by Bob Yari about the relationship between a young journalist and the aging Ernest Hemingway never rings true despite the authenticity of its setting. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmApr 29, 2016
These behind-the-scenes factoids are the most interesting aspects of the film — and, regrettably, the only interesting aspects, as well. Read full review
38
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldApr 28, 2016
We don’t even see that much of Cuba. Most of the action takes place at Hemingway’s estate there — the actual house, a vanilla-ice-cream-colored mansion (now a Hemingway museum), which gives a restrained, elegant performance. Pity the rest of the movie doesn’t rise to its standard. Read full review
38
Boston GlobePeter KeoughApr 28, 2016
Marilyn Monroe’s death in 1962 was ruled a suicide, as was Hemingway’s in 1961. Both spawned conspiracy theories. Maybe someone should make a movie about that. Or a decent one about Hemingway himself. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 26, 2016
Hemingway in Cuba lives and dies on its “Papa,” and Yari did himself no favors by cutting corners there. Read full review
37
Washington PostStephanie MerryApr 28, 2016
On paper, this is an extraordinary story. But the careless production values blunt its impact. The score is obtrusive and generic; the sound editing makes a shootout sound reminiscent of an old Western; continuity errors abound. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshApr 28, 2016
The film manages to be exceedingly dull, perhaps because it's too enamored of its own design, concept and location to bother with a captivating story. Read full review
30
VarietyJoe LeydonApr 28, 2016
Disappointingly plodding and ham-fistedly obvious in its attempts to offer an up-close and personal portrait of a mood-swinging, self-loathing 59-year-old Ernest Hemingway. Read full review
30
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlApr 27, 2016
The script is based on screenwriter Denne Bart Petitclerc's actual experience befriending the author, but words that might have lived in real life here die on the screen. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezApr 28, 2016
Played by Adrian Sparks in a style better suited for dinner theater or a Key West tourist attraction, Hemingway comes across as a complete cypher. Everyone in the film keeps talking about his genius, but other than a scene in which he writes a short story on the back of a napkin, the movie doesn’t try to humanize or explore his talent. Read full review
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