The Hottest State (2006)
Average Rating: 4.8/10
Reviews Counted: 54
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 37
Despite strong performances and a unique style, The Hottest State is too self-conscious and pretentious to truly succeed.
Average Rating: 4.9/10
Critic Reviews: 25
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 16
Despite strong performances and a unique style, The Hottest State is too self-conscious and pretentious to truly succeed.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 4,774
My Rating
Movie Info
Soon after relocating from Texas to New York in a bid to make the big time, a 21-year-old actor enters into a turbulent relationship with a struggling singer/songwriter in writer/director Ethan Hawke's screen adaptation of his own debut novel. William (Mark Webber) is an aspiring actor with dreams of making it big. Upon arriving in New York City, William soon enters into a tenuous romance with Sarah (Catalina Sandino Moreno), a talented musician with a winning voice and keen songwriting skills.
Jun 27, 2007 Wide
Dec 4, 2007
ThinkFilm
Cast
-
Mark Webber
William Harding -
Catalina Sandino Moreno
Sara Garcia -
Ethan Hawke
Vince -
Laura Linney
Jesse -
Michelle Williams
Samantha -
Sonia Braga
Mrs. Garcia -
Jesse Harris
Dave Atron -
Daniel Ross
Young Vince -
Anne Clarke
Young Jesse -
-
-
ADVERTISEMENT
The Hottest State Trailer & Photos
All Critics (54) | Top Critics (25) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (39) | DVD (4)
If nothing else, Hawke has managed to recreate, with neurological immediacy, the sensation of being harassed by a selfish, clueless ex-lover.
Top CriticEverything we see is tinted by a rose-colored self-fondness, down to the perfectly mussed bedheads, the unusually capacious apartments, the lousy bar music that's supposed to be really good.
The movie is crisply shot and obviously heartfelt, but search elsewhere if you want the same honesty Hawke displayed as an actor in 1995's Before Sunrise and its 2004 sequel Before Sunset.
[The two main characters] are in all honesty the least sympathetic and most egregiously boring romantic pair that I've seen onscreen in ages.
It's a small film, it's a mild recommendation, but I still think it's worth checking out.
The main point I can extract from Ethan Hawke's The Hottest State is that even a peevish and self-centered young man is capable of feeling great anguish when his girlfriend dumps him.
Breaking up is hard to do. So is making a movie about it. Ethan Hawke, in his adaptation of his own novel, doesn't try very hard. Or maybe he tries too hard.
The film is perfectly fine indie fare, but the plot and the characters seem a little more self-indulgently autobiographical than compelling.
Though there are some nutty and offbeat moments in The Hottest State, these young characters fail to generate any chemistry or 'heated state,' despite their tender years and simmering hormones.
Though there are some nutty and offbeat moments in The Hottest State, these young characters fail to generate any chemistry or 'heated state,' despite their tender years and simmering hormones.
What's apparently deeply personal for Hawke winds up deeply torturous for the audience.
Moody relationship drama is best for adults.
Not the hottest movie.
This is a beautifully made, involving film, but it would have been so much stronger with a bit of careful editing.
The Hottest State lacks heat.
The passionate Mexican interlude, the Shakespearean pleas to yonder windows, and the naive, earnest pillow talk all melt into one self-indulgent, faux-hipstery soup.
It's nothing new, but [writer/director Ethan] Hawke captures some evocative textures and honest moments.
Audience Reviews for The Hottest State
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for The Hottest State yet.
Latest News on The Hottest State
December 4, 2007:
RT on DVD: Superbad is Unrated, Pirates of the Caribbean is Rated Arrrrr!Avast, mateys! This week, pirates trawl the DVD shelves, and they come laden with booty -- bonus...
What's Hot On RT
Bradley Cooper's Best Movies
Trailer for new Coen Bros movie
Fast & Furious cars gallery
Blockbusters ranked!
Featured on RT
- Total Recall: Bradley Cooper's Best Movies 17
- Parental Guidance: Epic and Beautiful Creatures 2
- Comic Book Movies You Can Watch Online 6
- In Pictures: The Cars of Fast & Furious 0
- Digital Multiplex: Warm Bodies and Aftershock 8
- Discover the Best-Reviewed Films in Summer Movie Scorecard 2013 0
- RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: The Last Stand and Side Effects 17
Top Headlines
-
Vin Diesel Says Fast & Furious 7 Will Take Place in L.A.
0
-
10 Things You (Probably) Don't Know About the Hangover Movies
1
-
Zack Snyder, Christopher Nolan, and David S. Goyer Talk Man of Steel
0
-
New Transporter Trilogy in the Works
0
-
Richard Linklater Plans "Spiritual Sequel" to Dazed and Confused
0
-
King of Kong Filmmaker Seeks Funding for Lost Limb Documentary
0
-
Which Film Franchise Has Been the Best for Female Characters?
6
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
[size=3][img]http://www.fipresci.org/festivals/archive/2006/toronto/images/hottest_state_01.jpg[/img][/size]
[size=3]The problem is that through most of the film I found the characters insufferably boring and annoying. Being in their presence was at times torturous. It wasn't an interesting depiction of boring people. It was a boring depiction of boring people. It does come together well in the end, when one of the characters finally makes a change in his life. But the beginning and middle were so horrendous that I can't say the end is worth waiting for. [/size][size=3]Hawke (who also plays a supporting role) strikes me as the kind of filmmaker who has fantastic ideas but just can't turn them into good films.[/size]