With the many evils that occurred during wars, striving to discover the answers is what all survivors spend the rest of their lives trying to figure out. The decisions we make can reflect huge consequences that may haunt you for the rest of your lives or possibly end them during your battle through life. Many soldiers endure mental illness from the terrors they experience and struggle through when self-healing. Determining answers plagues most who dared these tough times but when the end comes the fears finally go away. 
After World War II (WWII), Colonel Richard Cantwell (Liev Schreiber), a career American soldier with poor health is drawn to Venice, Italy in search of his past, instead he finds forbidden love. Tortured by horrors that eat at his soul, the Colonial must discover the reasons before it takes his life. His determination to uncover what ails him, has him ultimately risking his own health.
When he completes an examination to determine his health problems that Colonel Cantwell has been experiencing, Captain Wes O’Neill (Danny Huston), his military physician, orders him to rest. He disobeys that directive, and Captain O’Neil assigns Sargent Jackson (Josh Hutcherson), to drive him around and keep an eye on Richard. Wanting to go to Venice, Colonel Cantwell, takes a trip to try and sort out what troubles him, here he meets an amazing young woman, Renata Contarini (Matilda De Angelis), who is of an Italian noble family and is currently engaged to be married. 
Richard’s desire to go duck hunting has him looking for guns to perform this task, but with everything still on lockdown from the war, these items are hard to locate. When he finds out that Renata’s mother Contessa Contarini (Laura Morante) has such an item, his connection with Renata grows even more. This new possible association allows for him to find some happiness amongst his many years of regret and anguish.
Based on a 1950’s Ernest Hemingway novel of the same name, director Paula Ortiz successfully presents an amazing rendition of this classic story. First released at a 2022 March film festival in Sun Valley, Idaho, a resort town where Hemingway lived, the rights were purchased by Level 33 Entertainment and officially distributed this November. Paula successfully brought this adventure to life with beautiful landscapes, fantastic venetian architecture, and the romantic atmosphere that comes from the attractive ambiance of this Italian city. She also creates a spectacular script that tells this account in a different presentation than the book does but keeps to its true meaning. 
The performance from all of the actors was outstanding, especially from Liev Schreiber, Matilda De Angelis, and Josh Hutcherson. Their characters were entertaining and fun, keeping you deeply interested in their implementations of their parts. This artistic film brings a marvelous book to life and presents it in a way that results in an incredible accomplishment. 
Final Comment: I based my grade on the remarkable reenactment of a classic narrative and an exceptional execution from the cast. 
Stars 4 out of 5
Additional Film Information
Cast: Liev Schreiber, Matilda De Angelis, Josh Hutcherson, Laura Morante, Massimo Popolizio, Sabrina Impacciatore, and Danny Huston.
Directed by: Paula Ortiz
Genre: Drama, Romance, and War.
MPAA Rating: TV-PG
Running Time: 1 hour and 46 minutes.
Release Date: November 1, 2024
Distributed By: Level 33 Entertainment
Release In: Standard