Sadly Over-hyped

Perfectly adorable

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Based on the 1989 book "Hemingway in Love and War" by Henry S. Villard and James Nagel, this is an extremely effective and often very moving depiction of the teenage Ernest Hemingway's relationship with the 26-year-old nurse Agnes von Kurowsky in Italy during the latter stages of the First World War. They fell in love and were planning on getting married after the war ended but Agnes broke up with him as she thought that he was too young. The experience left an indelible mark on Hemingway and it directly inspired several of his works, most notably "A Farewell to Arms". The film has a very strong script and it is extremely well and sensitively directed by Richard Attenborough, who was the obvious choice to handle this material. It bears some superficial similarities to his previous film "Shadowlands" in that it likewise concerns a famous author who has his first real experience of romantic love but then has to deal with the loss of that love, albeit in an extremely different way. It is not on the same level as that film, one of Attenborough's absolute best, but it nevertheless a very good film.Chris O'Donnell is very good as the 18/19-year-old Hemingway. He is depicted as a brash, arrogant, headstrong young man who joined the Red Cross in search of adventure. Considering that it was the War to End All Wars, he did not believe that he would get another chance to fight. However, the reality of the situation hits home when he receives a severe leg wound in the process of saving a young Italian soldier named Roberto, who dies shortly thereafter. He is taken to an American Red Cross-run hospital where he meets Agnes, who is played very well by Sandra Bullock, for the first time. Hemingway is immediately smitten but she maintains a polite disinterest for him for some time until she realises that she has fallen for him as well. The two of them have a very sweet, understated romance. Seven years is not much of an age difference in most adult relationships but it's a very big one when it is between 19 and 26. Hemingway is very brave and certainly very intelligent but he is still a teenager and occasionally does stupid things, most notably when he lies to his friend and rival Harry Villard and says, in her presence, that he and Agnes slept together. She slaps in the face - I'd have probably done the same thing in her position - but eventually forgives him.The main problem is that Agnes is a mature woman while Hemingway is very immature in many respects. He rushes headlong into their relationship and proposes marriage with only a vague and fairly unrealistic plan for their post-war life. Given that she accepts his proposal, she is initially swept away by the romance of the situation but she soon develops doubts about it. When Villard tells Agnes that she will be good for him as she can take care of him, she points out that this is what his mother is for. While Agnes is not quite as strong a character as I would have liked, O'Donnell and Bullock have great chemistry and many of their scenes together, particularly the last one, are very affecting. The supporting cast is very good, particularly Emilio Bonucci as Hemingway's more serious romantic rival Dr. Domenico Caracciolo, Mackenzie Astin as Villard and Ingrid Lacey as Elsie MacDonald.The film was aptly titled as it also explores the horror of war, something which Attenborough previously did, albeit more extensively and effectively, in "Oh! What a Lovely War" and his masterpiece "A Bridge Too Far". This is best handled in the case of Hemingway's friend Jimmy McBride, who suffers horrific injuries to most of his body. He eventually loses the will to live and commits suicide as the pain is just too great. The discovery of his body is the most moving scene in the entire film. As far as I can tell, McBride is an entirely fictional character so it is possible that his fate was intended as a reference to Hemingway's own suicide in 1961. Hemingway shows a softer side as well as his writing ability when he dictates the perfect letter to McBride's parents, supposedly from their son. It was a very kind thing to do.I've read several of Hemingway's novels but I am certainly not an expert on either his body of work or his life. However, I learned from a New York Times article published to mark the film's release that it took some liberties. In reality, according to her "Dear John" letter, she came to realise that she was very fond of him as a son rather than a sweetheart whereas she truly loved him in the romantic sense in the film. Their relationship is consummated in the film but they probably never did so in real life and the article argues that they were probably both virgins when they returned to the United States. I'm of two minds as to whether it was a good decision to have them sleep together in the film. Finally, they never saw each other after Agnes sent him the "Dear John" letter but they have one final meeting in the film. While the two of them never seeing each other again would have been a more poignant ending, their last brief encounter is necessary given the way that the film is structured. At the end of the film, Hemingway is as most people would picture him: bearded, brooding and drinking.Overall, this is an extremely strong film on the subject of first love, doomed love and the problems associated with notable age gaps in relationships. That said, it is more of a February-March relationship than a May-December one! The film's biggest problem is that it loses a little bit of its momentum in the last 20 to 25 minutes.

In spite of the fact that I don't like romances, once I had to watch the "In love and war". However, after watching it I was pleasantly surprised. The movie not just answers the question in the title of my review, but shows us in detail how it really happens. From the very beginning you start to believe actors, emotions and feelings they express and of course the setting. The story starts when young reporter Ernest Hemingway (Chris O'Donnell) comes to an Italy town as a volunteer in period of World War I. Soon he is injured and transported to the hospital, where he meets Agnes (Sandra Bullock ), he instantly falls in love with her, but he is not her only admirer. Surrounded by a number of lovers and all atrocities of war, will Agnes respond Ernest in kind?The thing I like most is the way how the war is shown. Notwithstanding that there are little battle scenes and action always takes place in hospital, we can see all terrors of war "from the backyard". You always sympathize with very young soldiers, who are in the hospital, especially those who are deadly injured.Even if you are not a fan of war films or romances, I advise you to watch the movie, just to broaden your horizons and not to forget what the war is. The love storyline is quite simple, the same thing can be said about characters, but there is something catching in this movie something that makes me think that one day I will watch it once again. 8/10

In love and War is a movie based on the book Hemingway in Love and War by Henry S. Villard and James Nagel that describes the events of young Hemingway's life during the war-time. Ernest Hemingway goes to war in Italy where he is accidentally shot and sent to a local hospital. There he falls in love with an American nurse. The movie depicts the first serious challenge for Hemingway – War and the first Love of a young boy who is known as one of the most prominent writers of all time. This will be captivating for anyone who loves war/love stories and those who don't know this part of Hemingway's life.First, this movie is worth watching because of the cast. Chris O'Donnell plays young Hemingway. Though this actor is not very famous, his acting is pretty impressive if consider, for example, the difference in the character in the beginning of the movie, when Ernest is a naive fearless 18-year old boy who is willing to make a contribution to this war by any cost and at the end of the movie, when Ernest is disappointed in love and life man. I think this work of a young actor is worthy of respect especially when your partner is an incredibly talented actress Sandra Bullock. She plays Agnes Von Kurowsky, an American nurse who falls in love with Ernest. Sandra Bullock is known mostly by her famous comedies as Miss Congeniality, Proposal, etc. But in this movie she is introduced as a brilliant drama actress who portrays Agnes as delicate and tender. Second, the director's work is first-rate. There is no moment when you get distracted from the plot because of bad director's cut. Also the music score is quite professional, because soundtracks do not distract from the movie events, but at the same time I can't say that some soundtrack stuck in my mind, so they're not outstanding.If compare this movie with other war movies, it stands out from the list because there is only one scene showing military actions, but the other part of the movie shows the life of wounded soldiers in the hospital. On the one hand that's a good thing because when Love is the main plot line, you don't expect to see firefights and dead soldiers, so it's certainly a plus. But on the other hand the life in the hospital is so merry so you actually forget that it's wartime.All in all it'a good melodrama for all-ages, even for children. They can learn new things about Love, War and young Hemingway. Except perhaps one scene…But parents may close their children's eyes. I can't say I'm delighted after watching this movie, but it's simply because I hate both melodramas and war movies. And all the negative things I noticed are the disadvantages of the book the movie is based on, so let's say the movie is the best it could be and I advise to watch it to everyone. It's 9 out of 10.

This movie is the worst piece of garbage put on film.Everyone involved should be emabarrased.A total disaster from start to finish.Chris O'Donnell is a horrible actor.Sandra Bullock, who can be good, is totally miscast here.At last the truth has been revealed that Richard Attenborough is a hack, who made one decent film, Ghandi.All of his other films have been mediocre at best.What a mess.Horrible.