Hemingway's Garden of Eden (2010)

4% of critics liked it
(23 reviews)
24% of users liked it
(937 ratings)

Produced for Tranquil Seas by Lorne Thyssen and Timothy J. Lewiston, directed by John Irvin and starring Mena Suvari, Jack Huston, Caterina Murino, Carmen Maura, Richard E. Grant and Matthew Modine, "Hemingway's Garden Of Eden" was adapted from the Ernest Hemingway book by former Paris Review editor… More Produced for Tranquil Seas by Lorne Thyssen and Timothy J. Lewiston, directed by John Irvin and starring Mena Suvari, Jack Huston, Caterina Murino, Carmen Maura, Richard E. Grant and Matthew Modine, "Hemingway's Garden Of Eden" was adapted from the Ernest Hemingway book by former Paris Review editor James Scott Linville. The book was published posthumously and, when it finally hit the bookstores in 1986, it was an immediate success. It remains one of Hemingway's most debated novels. Set in the jazz age years, prior to the depression, the story follows a successful young American writer, David Bourne (JACK HUSTON), and his beautiful wife, Catherine (MENA SUVARI), on their extended honeymoon in Europe. Catherine soon becomes restless and starts to test her husband's devotion, pushing him to the limits of her imagination. Already unsure of the games his wife is playing, David is both uncomfortable and curious when she brings a sultry Italian girl, Marita (CATERINA MURINO), to spice things up. As the erotic game reaches new levels, the events that follow will change their lives forever. --© Roadside Attractions

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 51 min.
Directed By: John Irvin
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Dec 10, 2010 Limited
On DVD: Mar 15, 2011
Studio: Roadside Attractions

Critic Reviews

Cary Darling, Dallas Morning News
It just seems like a bunch of actors playing dress-up.
Kyle Smith, New York Post
Everybody flirts with everyone else as director John Irvin pours on a level of shopping-mall-gift-shop-kitsch that would shame Wayne Newton.
Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times
Better than it might have been yet still a definite letdown, a literary B-side turned into something not awful, just forgettable.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
Ms. Suvari's Catherine is so extravagantly monstrous that Mr. Huston's David, who provides a desultory narration, comes across as an inert nonentity.
Ronnie Scheib, Variety
Vet British helmer John Irvin's mannered, bloodless and appallingly thesped filmization of Hemingway's posthumous novel, though unlikely to set the author rolling in his grave, may still have viewers rolling in the aisles.
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
The resulting sangria cocktail is mild, unchallenging, and kinda dull.
Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com
Sex has never felt more repellent after watching Eden, a clumsy effort of eroticism and psychological gamesmanship that's utterly devoid of structure and feeling. It's an awful picture.
Kimberly Gadette, Indie Movies Online
The question that occurs is not whether director Irvin hates actors but rather, how much. We can imagine him shouting to the cast: 'Once more, with less feeling. Get shallow! Can't you do worse than that?'
Jesse Cataldo, Slant Magazine
In this Riviera vacation atmosphere, all sun, sand, and skin, the dialectic of opposites the film attempts to enforce instead melts down to little more than kinky foreplay.
Robert Levin, Critic's Notebook
A soft-core, Jazz Age skin flick masquerading as high art.
Fr. Chris Carpenter, Movie Dearest
A veteran director, the attractive lead performers and some stunning settings cannot bring credibility to this inherently stilted story.
Tony Medley, Tolucan Times
With Hemingway pictured as a wuss and laughable acting, could this be intended as camp?
David Noh, Film Journal International
Papa, they've done you wrong again, in this dreadful, miscast Hemingway adaptation.
Robert W. Butler, Kansas City Star
A borderline terrible movie that plays like a parody of a Hemingway story.
Blake French, Filmcritic.com
a sexy psychological thriller much better suited for a younger crowd than the literature buffs who may be drawn to it.
Beth Accomando, KPBS.org
The acting rings false and the clothes, rooms, and locations never feel lived in. You always feel aware that you are on a movie set watching actors perform.
Marshall Fine, Hollywood & Fine
Nothing will protect the audience from this dreadful film except to stay far away from the few theaters unwise enough to show it.
Donald J. Levit, ReelTalk Movie Reviews
'Hemingway's Garden' of Eden will restore no luster to the celebrity writer-adventurer.
Noel Murray, AV Club
The dialogue and plot in Garden Of Eden are rendered clearly and precisely, without a lot of fine shading. The result is a movie that's all surface... all silly, silly surface.
Geoff Berkshire, Metromix.com
Flirts with camp, but stifling boredom ultimately trumps any unintentional hilarity.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Christopher H

Consider me in the minority, but I actually really enjoyed this film. The acting fits better than I had originally thought and it works on the perfect period piece level of looking and feeling out of this century.