THE HOTTEST STATE
Once More, With Hawkean Feeling
The PopcornReel.com Movie Review: "The Hottest State"
By Omar P.L. Moore/September 8, 2007
Hot and Cold: Catalina Sandino Moreno as Sara and Mark Webber as William in "The
Hottest State", written and directed by Ethan Hawke.
Ethan Hawke writes and directs a romantic drama of discovery, introspection and
heartbreak, and excels at it. "The Hottest State", based on Mr. Hawke's
novel of the same name, is about William, an ambitious would-be actor from Texas
who meets Sara, a beautiful woman in a bar in New York and is instantly taken by
her. Catalina Sandino Moreno ("Maria Full Of Grace") is Sara, and Mark
Webber (who in this film looks like a Calvin Klein underwear model) is William.
They have a chemistry which flickers uneasily onscreen, like a fire about to
spread, and perhaps that is because the characters that they play are in
different places in their lives, not because the two actors themselves have any
difficulty together before the cameras. One of the characters appears to
be struggling with the past, the other looks to be moving on into the future.
Everything about "State" is edgy, including William's relationship with Vince,
his father (Hawke), but none of the film is boring or remotely uninteresting.
"The Hottest State" refers to Mexico, and a few magical weeks spent there by
William and Sara. Things change soon after, and the movie chronicles in
realistic and authentic detail the ups and downs of their relationship.
The director's film is mainly composed of talky (a good thing) set pieces or
sketches, in which William spills his heart out, yearning for the closeness of a
special woman. Ladies in the audience watching "The Hottest State" will
never fault William for trying valiantly to regain the affections of his special
love. These sequences are some of the strongest material in the film, and
Ethan Hawke, who writes emotions and feelings well for the big screen (see his
co-writing of "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset") continues to give his male
characters a platform on which to fully express their emotions, and in an
in-depth way that few male characters do on the big screen. There is an
almost feminine quality (or is it instead a
fully-realized-male-in-touch-with-his-feelings-quality?) about William in his
expressions. Vulnerable or no, pained or impassioned, he lays everything
out on the table. No poker face required. And there is a theatrical,
even Shakespearean feel to some of the vignette-type moments for the lead
character.
To Hawke's credit, Sara is not portrayed as the overly mysterious woman -- she
is certainly a complex figure -- but she appears to have in some ways been taken
for granted by William, however innocently or unintentionally. Sara has
ambitions of her own as a lounge singer, and is intent on making a name for
herself. She generally expresses herself sparingly, in brevity and
succinctness, in an ironic trademark of what one can safely get away with
ascribing as a typically male characteristic. It would have been good
however, to get to know Sara a little more, and perhaps the director's novel may
offer a bit more insight into her background.
Hawke directs the film's episodes -- which look like scenes from a private video
memoir at some points -- with a raw, yet stagy feel. On numerous
occasions, a boom mike appears in the top of the frame, and one is not sure
whether this is intentional on Hawke's part to add to the art of his story or to
suggest that William's acting ambitions is part of an act itself, or whether the
boom mike operator was just asleep at the wheel. Though the answer to this
inquiry won't make or break the film, the mike isn't distracting enough to
subvert the celluloid proceedings either. "State" features cameos from Mr.
Hawke and Laura Linney as William's parents, whose own troubled existence helps
inform the main character of his own issues with the opposite sex. Cameos
also feature Richard Linklater, Hawke's good friend and director of Hawke in
such films as "Sunrise" and "Sunset" mentioned above, "Tape" and "Fast Food
Nation". "Home Alone" director John Patrick Shanley even appears, as does
Frank Whaley (remember him as Brett, who crosses Samuel L. Jackson's character
in "Pulp Fiction"?), and the great Sonia Braga is memorable as Sara's drunken
mother. Michelle Williams ("Brokeback Mountain") also appears, as
William's on-again-off-again former girlfriend (can you say, "f--- buddy"?)
Hawke has stage roots, and his talents as an actor and artist in general are
without question. The actor-director (who also directed "Chelsea Walls"
from his novel of the same name a few years ago) is in his element here, and he
knows how to craft a film, which is augmented here by a great soundtrack thanks
to Jesse Harris (who also appears in the film as the leader of Sara's band), as
well as some occasionally arresting cinematography (Christopher Norr).
"The Hottest State" is discreet, explosive, erotic, tender, touching and reaches
its zenith in its smallest and largest moments of revelation. The film is
intelligent without becoming pretentious, and many men and women who have lost
and found love will strongly identify with the themes and issues in Hawke's
latest. If you liked films like "Sunrise" and "Sunset", in which Julie
Delpy also starred, (Delpy can currently be seen on screen in the U.S. and
Canada directing herself in her debut directing effort "2 Days In Paris"), you
will be a fan of "The Hottest State", a conversational piece that is interrupted
by a lot more drama, style, warmth and character back story.
"The Hottest State" opened yesterday in San Francisco and
other area theaters in Northern California and elsewhere in the U.S. It
opened in New York and Los Angeles on August 24. The film is rated R by
the Motion Picture Association of America for sexual content and language.
The film's duration is one hour and 57 minutes.
Copyright The Popcorn Reel. PopcornReel.com. 2007.
All Rights Reserved.