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The Hawk Is Dying (2005)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 4.6/10
Reviews Counted: 23
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 16

Paul Giamatti lends his character some pathos, but The Hawk is Dying is otherwise too ambiguous and morose to be enjoyable.

Average Rating: 4.5/10
Critic Reviews: 9
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 6

Paul Giamatti lends his character some pathos, but The Hawk is Dying is otherwise too ambiguous and morose to be enjoyable.

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Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 2,228

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Movie Info

A man channels his feelings through an obsession with wild birds in this independent drama based on a novel by Harry Crews. Fortysomething George Gattling (Paul Giamatti) is an emotionally stunted man who makes his living doing auto upholstery and lives with his sister, Precious (Rusty Schwimmer), and her autistic son, Fred (Michael Pitt). Though George has an on-and-off relationship with Betty (Michelle Williams), a constantly stoned young woman just edging out of her teens, one of the few ways

Unrated, 1 hr. 46 min.

Art House & International, Drama

Directed By: Julian Goldberger

Written By: Julian Goldberger

In Theaters: Jan 21, 2006 Wide

On DVD: May 29, 2007

Strand Releasing

The Hawk Is Dying Trailer & Photos

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Cast

Critic Reviews for The Hawk Is Dying

All Critics (23) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (7) | Rotten (16) | DVD (2)

Goldberger and Giamatti strain too hard for strangeness.

May 4, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

| Comment

Bill Stamets

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

These strengths seldom mesh persuasively.

May 4, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Imagine an entire film infected with hangdog sensibility, unrelieved by humor or narrative interest, and you have The Hawk Is Dying.

April 2, 2007 Comment

Jeannette Catsoulis

New York Times

Top Critic

Not an easy movie to watch, and it's far from perfect -- but it does have an artsy integrity and a fascinatingly intense performance by Paul Giamatti.

March 30, 2007 Full Review Source: New York Post

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Lou Lumenick

New York Post

Top Critic

Goldberger's stubbornly insular script might have fared better on stage, where the story would feel more contained than suffocating.

March 30, 2007 Full Review Source: New York Daily News

| Comment

Elizabeth Weitzman

New York Daily News

Top Critic

There's enough worthwhile labor expended, especially by the powerful cast, to make Hawk Is Dying difficult to dismiss, even when it's hard to take.

March 29, 2007 Full Review Source: Newsday

| Comment

Gene Seymour

Newsday

Top Critic

Never takes flight.

April 7, 2007 Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine

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Chad Greene

Boxoffice Magazine

The Hawk Is Dying is a fragile little movie, occasionally ridiculous, but with M. Night Shyamalan's Lady In The Water, Giamatti proved that he can make even the weirdest material believable.

April 5, 2007 Full Review Source: AV Club

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Noel Murray

AV Club

Ultimately, this inscrutable film is just an exercise in self-indulgence.

March 31, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Journal International

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Doris Toumarkine

Film Journal International

For performing half this film with a predatory bird perched and flapping angrily on his arm, Paul Giamatti deserves some sort of award.

March 31, 2007 Full Review Source: Time Out New York

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Tom Beer

Time Out New York

Giamatti delivers yet another superb performance, turning what might have been a freak show into an unexpectedly moving experience.

March 30, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

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Ken Fox

TV Guide's Movie Guide

Isn't anywhere close to perfect, but giving yourself over to its performances is wonderfully rewarding.

March 30, 2007 Comment

James Emanuel Shapiro

Reel.com

Resonant but angst-ridden, it's a subtle, strangely spiritual human drama that unfolds slowly, very slowly.

March 23, 2007 Full Review Source: www.susangranger.com

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Susan Granger

www.susangranger.com

The principal human character warns more than once, "Don't look at The Hawk." That's good advice, film fans.

March 19, 2007 Full Review Source: Compuserve

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Harvey S. Karten

Compuserve

It's awfully hard to review a movie called The Hawk is Dying without avoiding bird synonyms and metaphors.

March 17, 2007 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

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Jason Clark

Slant Magazine

It's not exactly a one-man and a bird show, but it's as close as we're going to get.

May 22, 2006 Full Review Source: Entertainment Insiders

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Eric Lurio

Entertainment Insiders

Goldberger's study of a troubled man's obsession with falconry is admittedly flawed and Giamatti's acting is self-indulgent, yet there's something truly independent about this film which now gets a second chance to be seen at the Cannes Film Festival.

April 10, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Giamatti, as always, is great. He brings George to life, which isn't all that difficult for one of the few dumpy, balding actors getting leading man roles in Hollywood.

February 17, 2006 Full Review Source: Film Threat

| Comment

Pete Vonder Haar

Film Threat

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Hawk Is Dying

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This was a good film, but I don't know if it was one I would recommend to everyone. It is kind of slow, and not the most thrilling of topics, I guess, with the main character being obssessed with training a hawk! However, the cast are all very good in this, particularly Paul Giamatti and Michelle Williams, and it

January 19, 2008

Nicki Marie

Super Reviewer

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Thats what I thought after the first 30 min, the 2nd 30 min, and the last 30 min. I have more to do with my life then watch this, don't I? I guess not or I wouldn't have finished it. Save Me Somebody

October 31, 2007

Bruce Bruce

Super Reviewer

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