Ken Burns has done so much wonderful stuff that I think we may be reluctant to be as hard on this biography as it deserves.
The uncompromising voice of Peter Coyote drills Hemingway down year-by-year Without sympathy, without forgiveness, and almost without wonder at the artistic achievements of this man's life.
There are things to be learned from it, and there are some amazing moments in it, but I wonder if Mr. Burns, once he had his hands fully around the character he was about to portray had any misgivings about the portrayal he would make.
Halfway through the last hour I had to turn it off. Hemmingway could be a real jerk, but if the only thing he had ever written was the old man and the sea, then we should not be so quick to judgment.
The uncompromising voice of Peter Coyote drills Hemingway down year-by-year Without sympathy, without forgiveness, and almost without wonder at the artistic achievements of this man's life.
There are things to be learned from it, and there are some amazing moments in it, but I wonder if Mr. Burns, once he had his hands fully around the character he was about to portray had any misgivings about the portrayal he would make.
Halfway through the last hour I had to turn it off. Hemmingway could be a real jerk, but if the only thing he had ever written was the old man and the sea, then we should not be so quick to judgment.