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Good concept, poorly executed.

Fresh and Exciting

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

After the Great War (aka World War I), a "lost generation of young people" gathers in Paris, where they find happiness elusive. The focus is mainly on newspaperman Tyrone Power (as Jake Barnes), who may be impotent due to a war injury, and sexually insatiable Ava Gardner (as Brett Ashley). She also attracts Mr. Power's athletic friend Mel Ferrer (as Robert Cohn). The two men receive stiff competition from perpetually tipsy Errol Flynn (as Michael "Mike" Campbell), who is Ms. Garner's fiancé. When we meet her, Garner is trying to quit drinking. She falls off the wagon quickly...After Power's fun-loving pal Eddie Albert (as Bill Gorton) arrives, everyone meets for "the running of the bulls" in Spain. There, Gardner is aroused by young bullfighter Robert Evans (as Pedro Romero)...Reportedly unconvincing during the rushes, Mr. Evans was supposed to be fired, but producer Darryl F. Zanuck famously said, "The kid stays in the picture!" Evans does look silly, but at least he's the right age. Others in the cast are clearly too old for Ernest Hemingway's youthful characters. Only Mr. Flynn manages to essay a characterization worth noting; he placed fourth in the annual "Best Supporting Actor" poll conducted by the "Film Daily". Director Henry King and photographer Leo Tover put the drinkers in a nice-looking CinemaScope landscape that does not help the story.**** The Sun Also Rises (8/23/57) Henry King ~ Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Errol Flynn, Mel Ferrer

Filming Hemingway's introspective, brooding novel "The Sun Also Rises" was a major challenge. Much of the power of Hemingway's story stems from what is not said, what is left out, what is suggested or only hinted at.In Virginia Woolf's novel "To The Lighthouse", the author goes inside everyone's mind and tells you exactly what all the characters are thinking. "The Sun Also Rises" is the opposite: you read what the characters say to each other and do in public, but even Jake Barnes, the narrator and central character, leaves most of his feelings unspoken. He pushes them aside and tries to soldier on in spite of them.This is obviously not something that can work on screen. However, this A-list adaptation succeeds, up to a point, in bringing the novel to life without making too much explicit. Although some of the performers are miscast and are much older than the characters in the book, there are solid performances all around.Those who haven't read the book may find this film slow and rambling. This is not a tightly plotted story; it's more of a character study, as well as a look at a time and place where people were disillusioned and living on the edge of hope. The film does compensate for the loose narrative with spectacular sequences of bullfighting and the running of the bulls at Pamplona.I originally saw this film in 1971 on a small black and white TV with commercial breaks; I may have even missed the first few minutes. It's a real treat to have the color widescreen Cinemascope presentation available on DVD. Despite its weaknesses, I do like this picture and it really needs a good widescreen transfer to fully appreciate it.

'The Sun Also Rises' is a movie in which a lot happens and nothing happens. Maybe it would be better to say, nothing means anything. Which may be the point Ernest Hemingway was trying to make in the novel the film is based on. We follow a group of people, some who have known each other and some who have just met, as they make their way on a sort of moveable feast (sorry, couldn't resist) across France and Spain. They make witty conversation, argue, eat, drink a lot, go to the bullfights, fall in and out of love, and occasionally come to blows. Lady Brett Ashley (Ava Gardner) is more or less in love with Jake (Tyrone Power) but over the course of the movie manages to flirt, have affairs, or become engaged to just about every other prominent male character. They include Robert (Mel Ferrer), Mike (Errol Flynn), Bill (Eddie Albert), and Pedro (Robert Evans). I suppose depending on one's mood, one could read any number of meanings into the plot: the hopelessness of love, the eccentricities of human nature, the futility of life itself, or maybe that the best thing one can do in trying to deal with any of these is to get drunk in as many different places as possible. The novel, as I recall, had a good deal more style than the film and was worth reading simply for the enjoyment of Hemingway's tough, spare prose and dialogue. It didn't add up to much but it was a good read. The movie is tedious and pointless for the most part, and badly cast. The characters seem too old, and hence foolish, for traipsing around Paris and San Sebastian to no purpose. The bloated screenplay makes it seem as though their ramblings and besotted adventures MUST have some meaning, but when it's all over, it's apparent they don't. There is an interesting bit of casting in Errol Flynn portraying playboy Mike Campbell, the drunkest of all, who has a memorable line when he explains that he went bankrupt "two ways- gradually and all of a sudden." As has been pointed out, Flynn seems to be almost playing himself, and his scenes are the best. But they are not enough to sustain 'The Sun Also Rises,' a film that takes over two hours to arrive nowhere.

GWlightwizard gave a beautiful review and I agree completely with him. This film and the book are very close. As for the criticisms that the actors are too old for their roles - consider this - the characters they portray are actually in their 30s (not their 20s as some have stated). For instance, Ava Gardner was 35, her character in the book was 34. It's very good casting by putting in actors that are a bit older. The characters do seem a bit weary and older and are merely showing the effects of their lifestyle. Theirs is a post-WWI, world-weary, hard drinking life full of disillusionments and briefly fleeting joys. Read the book in conjunction with seeing this movie. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the parallels. It's also historically quite accurate for the period, plus a bit auto-biographical. Ernest Hemingway was and is one of the best. It shows in this movie and is great.