Ernest Hemingway’s “Across the River and Into the Trees” is rarely mentioned among the American writer’s more celebrated works. But it’s one I hold a special affection for. The work was first serialized in 1950 for Cosmopolitan magazine before being published as a novel later that year. Despite being met with negative reviews from the press, “Across the River” would become Hemingway’s only novel to top the New York Time’s bestseller’s list. As is often the case, literary critics and scholars have been more receptive of the work over time.

Director Paula Ortiz, working from a script by Peter Flannery, brings “Across the River and Into the Trees” to the screen in an adaptation that seeks to explore the DNA of Hemingway’s beguiling treatise on facing death, the prospect of love, and the emotional ravages of war. Their updated and safer spin first premiered at Idaho’s Sun Valley Film Festival back in March of 2022, and now it will be available for more people to wrestle with. And as with Hemingway’s novel, the reactions should be interesting.

Those familiar with the novel will immediately notice the movie’s streamlined approach to setting up the story. Flannery’s script bypasses many of the book’s early details and makes some pretty significant narrative alterations. It still revolves around a complicated protagonist, the grizzled and truculent Colonel Richard Cantwell (played by Liev Schreiber). He’s a 51-year-old American Army officer and renowned hero of both World Wars stationed in Italy.

In many ways the Colonel is a quintessential Hemingway protagonist – world-weary and cynical in spirit. His ice-cold granite demeanor conceals more than the terminal illness he was recently diagnosed with. It also hides a lost soul deeply scarred by sorrow and trauma. The Colonel is a self-destructive man who drinks like a fish, is a heavy smoker, and pops nitroglycerin pills to keep his heart from exploding. Yet there’s a poorly veiled romantic side to the man which really comes out in his love for the city of Venice.

Ignoring the warnings of his concerned friend and physician Captain Wes O’Neill (Danny Huston in a small but effective role), the stubborn Colonel is determined to travel to Venice for a weekend duck hunt. O’Neill relents but assigns him a driver, the chatty Private Jackson (Josh Hutcherson). It doesn’t take long for the Colonel to shake his escort and hitch a boat ride into the city with an arresting young woman named Renata Contarini (Matilda De Angelis). He’s instantly fascinated by her which distracts him from his real reason for being in Venice.

In what feels like fate, the Colonel and Renata meet again and spend the night walking around the city marked by its beautiful sites and winding canals. It’s revealed that Renata is a countess from a once affluent family. She’s now unhappily engaged to a wealthy aristocrat named Antonio (Giulio Berruti) more to satisfy her ambitious mother than out of any feeing of true love. There’s a hint of Linklater as the two walk and talk across the alluring Italian città. But here the charm is shadowed by a looming sense of despair. It’s what makes the film both enchanting and tragic.

Ortiz makes great use of her locations which are exquisitely shot by DP Javier Aguirresarobe. The film is a visual feast but in a self-restrained way that keeps it from becoming just a pretty travelogue. The camera serves the characters and their emotional pilgrimage. Venice is undoubtedly a key character, but at its heart “Across the River” is conversational and thoughtful. Flannery’s dialogue is organic and revealing; occasionally uneven but mostly authentic to the spirit of Hemingway’s prose.

With a title derived from the last words uttered by Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, “Across the River and Through the Trees” offers a bittersweet examination of love while emphasizing the toll war can take on the human spirit. Not all of the film’s liberties work, but Ortiz shows good instincts in keeping her film character-focused, and she captures the era’s post-war sensibilities which is a crucial element to the story. Add in a solid performance from the sturdy Schreiber and you have a warm yet haunting film that adds its own spin to one of Hemingway’s most underappreciated works. “Across the River and Into the Trees” releases in select theaters on August 30th.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS