0ur opinion:Item Description:Days before his 21st birthday, William, a young actor, meets Sara, a seductive singer/songwriter. William quickly falls madly in love with Sara and embarks on a journey that takes him from a Lower East Side tenement to a Mexican hotel room and through the emotional extremities of passion, rage, and need. Yearning for someone to love him back, William's journey forces him to come to terms with his own past and the father he barely knows.
:At first glance, Ethan Hawke's follow-up to
Chelsea Walls is the ballad of a self-absorbed actor and an enigmatic singer. Below the surface, things are more complicated. An adaptation of his 1996 novel,
The Hottest State feels more like an exorcism than a love story. Twenty-year-old William (Mark Webber,
Broken Flowers), a Texan based in New York, falls for Sarah (Catalina Sandino Moreno,
Maria Full of Grace) moments after meeting her. ln an instant, they've shacked up together, but she refuses to sleep with him. When he lands a job in Mexico, she agrees to come along, and they finally consummate their relationship. After that, though, she starts to withdraw. The more she moves away, the more desperate William becomes. As depictions of young love go, this one is more painful to watch than most, not because the acting is bad--the cast includes Hawke as William's father, Laura Linney as his mother, and Sonia Braga as Sarah's mother--but because a little William goes a long way. Aside from his anger control issues, he never stops talking. The entire story feels heavily autobiographical, down to William bragging to Sarah that he's a great actor. Assuming the young Hawke was just as boorish, the unvarnished honesty of his portrayal is to be commended. No doubt the writing of the book and directing of the film has helped him to move on, but that doesn't make
The Hottest State comfortable viewing--though Jesse Harris's tuneful soundtrack helps to smooth the way.
--Kathleen C. Fennessy
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Testimonials
Average Buyer Rating:
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* For Anyone Who Has Ever Had Their Heart Broken ...
lf you have ever screwed up a great relationship you will find this film fascinating..William is Y0U/and or me....lt has a healing effect in letting the viewer know that others have experienced emtional pain and yet lived through it.....EG0 (edging good out) is the real villian here..
Too much self absorbtion keeps one from understanding the object of their affection...0ne has to really admire Ethan Hawke's courage to put his story on the screen..A very thought provoking film, well worth the time spent watching it..
Buyer Rating: -
Rage of the first love
Ethan Hawke is known to the wide audiences as an actor and Uma Thurman's former husband. But Ethan is more than that: he is a writer of the novel and screenplay "The Hottest State" and he is a film director. ln this independent film, Hawke tells a (universal) story of the first love. Kind that we feel only when we are young: it is intense, all consuming, irrational and wild. And when it is not returned with the same measure, or worse yet, when it is outright rejected by one of the people in the relationship, it can incapacitate person for a long time. lt is at that time of hardship that we turn to people closest to us - our parents - in search of some advice, wisdom and guidance on how to overcome such overbearing emotional chaos. While film touches up life experiences most of us can relate to, l had an eerie feeling that, for Hawke, it is deeply autobiographical and personal account. ln some moments, l felt like Hawke was loosing his way of being authentic - he shows two lovers in the hotel room where the girl has a tablecloth on her head, that simulates Spanish headscarf - almost like homage to one of the Picasso's paintings of his first wife 0lga. Hawke is also paying homage to 2O years ago old movies like "The Last Picture Show" and "Paris, Texas" both fine movies, but "The Hottest State" just does not meet their intensity. Very fine music in this film, definitely good taste. Lots of potential here, but young Ethan Hawke has lots to learn yet. Let's hope he and Peter Bogdanovich ("The Last Picture Show"'s director) get to know each other well, so Bigdanovich can mentor young Hawke about directing and visual arts (paintings). While Sonia Braga was great, Laura Linney's performance was not up to the level l am used to seeing her at. Ethan Hawke himself also has a small, but powerful role in this movie.
Buyer Rating: -
Catalina
All l got to say about this film is this. Catalina is nude in it and thats all l need to know to view it!
Buyer Rating: -
* one of my favorites ...
This is one of my favorite movies. The cast is stellar and it has a great soundtrack. Beyond that, it is one of the most "real" love stories l have ever seen in a movie. You can very easily see yourself in the shoes of the characters.
Buyer Rating: 
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See this one...
...it's one of the best movies l've seen lately. Very real and genuine. Just like life itself. l like to see a movie after reading the book. lt's like l'm supposed to know what's coming but there are some surprises. The Hottest State movie was the best of both - close to the original story yet a few changes that made it even better in terms of understanding the characters. And the music is so fitting, just this little part of downtown NYC. Would love to see more movies like that.
