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Better Late Then Never

Absolutely the worst movie.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The Old Man (Spencer Tracy) is a struggling Cuban fisherman. He lives alone and misses his departed beloved wife. The other men laugh about his lack of luck. His only supporter is the Young Boy. He rows out further than everyone and faces a battle with a huge marlin.Based on Ernest Hemingway's iconic story, this requires two essential elements; the old man and the sea. The legendary Spencer Tracy has his hair whitened and brings his gravitas. The Young Boy could be more compelling but it's probably asking too much. The Cuban village has its scenic moments. Then there is the sea. It is mostly Tracy in a tank with rear projection and a mechanical fish. It is mixed with long range shoots in the real sea. It doesn't have the intensity or the epic adventure. The constant narration is distracting although I understand the literary motif. Tracy puts in a valiant effort and it's barely enough.

Do you stay faithful to the book or do you adapt a work so that it presents itself as the best film? Always an issue and for this film the adaption kills the work it does not suit the cinema and feels like a plodding piece instead of the insightful tale of humanity that the novella was. The framing of shots is poor and the blurring of the frame to hide the low quality of the special effects should have been better done, I felt like I was seeing a film from the late 30's rather than nearing the sixties. You could place anyone into the role of the old man and come away with a decent performance and Tracey does not give us anything that one may consider amazing.

the Hemingway novel. as seed for a great film. more than an adaptation, it is a impressive parable about hope, fight, desire and limits. each scene - as perfect circle. the fight against sharks scene - memorable. one of the most powerful roles of Tracy. and beautiful nuances of an extraordinary performance.the beauty of images and precise script are keys of this remarkable movie. a parable - movie because it can be a Christian story about faith and will of God. about ambition and sense of a bitter lesson. about yourself. a fisherman in his boat. a huge fish. and the return to home. all - in powerful light and heavy shadows. parts of a movie about small life things.

For a mid-'50s (okay, that tired phrase, "mid-century") film, it is a half-decent depiction of Hemingway's classic, though Spencer Tracy's Cuban accent is obviously forced, if even available, and Tracy needed a good week under a tanning bed if the producer expected us to believe that even a gringo fisherman would look as pale as Tracy's character looked. The scenery was not as much in the studio appearance as I would have expected, except with the fish-fighting scenes looking forward in the boat to the fish. Wasn't the Old Man (Tracy) fighting a swordfish in one scene, or am I mistaken? I'm told by TMC's anchor that it was a fake fish because they couldn't catch a decent fish when shooting for the flick, and Hemingway wasn't a fan of the movie, making comments about Tracy not passing for a Cubano at all. But at least on my old Sony 19" Trinitron television (no digital here), the expired fish, its long backbone exposed, was perfect! And I love the ending shots of the fishermen silhouetted against the sunset, which as a former west Floridian, was totally real.