BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

keyshoust I would put this in the same category as "London", with Jessica Biel. It will graphically and painfully remind most people of someone they loved and lost. It's the kind of movie to watch when you are already feeling down due to a break-up, or when you kind of want to feel that way or remember a girl / guy you who you once loved. This is also a pretty good coming-of-age story. Laura Linney, playing the lead's mother, delivers advice I will never forget about people begging you to be weak but really wanting you to be strong. Still, the love story and heartbreak is the most powerful thing in it, to me. I look forward to more movies from Ethan Hawke.

charlytully This comment is aimed at those people who got the DVD of THE HOTTEST STATE as a gift from someone (or as part of a blind "grab bag" purchase, part of an inheritance, part of a theft, etc.), and are curious to see an Ethan Hawke project talk love to death WITHOUT involving Julie Delpy (BEFORE SUNRISE & BEFORE SUNSET). Rather than watching this 117-minute feature, the DVD gives you the option of viewing STRAIGHT TO ONE, a 21-minute, 29-second short from 1994 by Hawke. STO features the apparent precursors to feature protagonist William's parents Vince and Jesse in the early days of their marriage. (These characters are called Jim & Leslie Green in the short, and are played by actors who do not appear in the feature.) The story arc of the short is similar to that of the feature's two main characters, especially on an emotional level. Perhaps Hawke's message in the feature (and the combined package) is that we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of our parents. This gloomy sentiment probably goes down better in a shorter dose.

gradyharp Ethan Hawke wrote the book THE HOTTEST STATE and then proceeded to write the screenplay, direct and act in it. Sometimes that combination works, but in this instance the whole project feels like a narcissistic self-indulgent autobiographical talky two hours. Hawke is respected enough among his peers that he was able to draw a fine cast together in an attempt to make this film work, but in the end it is pretty boring.Young Texas actor William (Mark Webber) has moved to New York to make it big, and while he gets jobs, he feels as though he doesn't have a handle on relationships. When he meets the beautiful singer Sarah (Catalina Sandino Moreno) he falls in love but has no idea how to court his dream girl. Sarah is cautious about relationships, too, yet is attracted to William and consents to travel to Mexico to heat up their bonding. In Mexico they spend the greater part of their time consummating their love affair: the love scenes are fairly erotic, especially on the part of Moreno. Returning to their jobs in New York the two face problems in continuing their relationship. William's divorced parents (Laura Linney and Ethan Hawke) have their own demons that prevent their providing William with much consolation, and Sarah's mother (Sonia Braga) has a rather negative view of relationships. How the film finally winds down with dealing with William's whining and Sarah's resistance is all that is left of the lengthy diatribe.Though Linney, Braga, Michelle Williams (in too short a role), and Moreno try to make this story tolerable, it is inherent in the concept that William (Ethan Hawke poorly disguised) is just too boring a guy to care about. Mark Webber is supposed to have the promise and charisma of a 'new Brando' (according to the hype), but he is flat in this film. The soundtrack is wearing and rarely takes a break for the dialog. Hawke can and has done better. Hopefully he has released his ego in this film and can move on. Grady Harp

delta_vega I saw this film at the LA Film Festival and found it to be a boring talk-fest between two largely unsympathetic, unconvincing characters. If Hawke was trying to channel Linkletter's Before Sunrise/Sunset, he should have also created characters whose motivations and reactions are at least somewhat plausible, even if they happen to be 20 year olds. On the other hand, the character portrayed by Laura Linney (the mother of male lead) is refreshing in her contribution of realism to the story. Otherwise, if you like lots of self-involved rambling about nothing much, punctuated by music videos and a few moments of soft-core porn, this is your movie.