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The Hawk Is Dying

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The Hawk Is Dying (2007)

27%
33%
80%
N/A
N/A
N/A
27 %
Reviews Counted: 22 Fresh: 6  Rotten:16 Average Rating: 4.5/10
 
Consensus: Paul Giamatti lends his character some pathos, but The Hawk is Dying is otherwise too ambiguous and morose to be enjoyable.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins

Theatrical Release: Mar 30, 2007 Limited

Synopsis: It is a basic human need to connect with something larger than yourself. Achieving this state of grace is an elusive goal, and oftentimes the process of making this connection doesn't look very pretty or logical. Julian Goldberger returns to Sundance (his film Trans played in the 1999... It is a basic human need to connect with something larger than yourself. Achieving this state of grace is an elusive goal, and oftentimes the process of making this connection doesn't look very pretty or logical. Julian Goldberger returns to Sundance (his film Trans played in the 1999 Festival) with The Hawk Is Dying, an enigmatic and emotionally potent film about one man searching for meaning in his life. George Gattling is an auto upholsterer who lives with his sister, Precious, and her mentally challenged son, Fred. Occasionally in George's life, there is sex with Betty, a 20-something pothead. But George's passion and meaning in life are training hawks, even though he has fumbled falconry and killed several birds. One day, he and Fred catch the most magnificent red-tailed hawk he has ever seen. Nearly everyone in his life thinks he is mad for wanting to continue with falconry, but George is determined to finally tame the bird, even in the face of tragic events. Paul Giamatti's incredibly powerful performance as Gattling, an earnest man who finds himself a fish out of water in his own life, firmly holds the emotional center of this daring and confident film. Entirely original, The Hawk Is Dying is a beautiful and metaphorical film rich with genuine emotion and unexpected epiphanies. --© Sundance Film Festival [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Michelle Williams, Paul Giamatti, Robert Wisdom, Rusty Schwimmer, Ann Wedgeworth

Director: Julian Goldberger
Screenwriter: Julian Goldberger
Producer: Mary Jane Skalski, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte
Composer: Jonathan Goldberger

DVD Info

Release:

May 29, 2007

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital - English

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - 1. Paul Gianatti - Actor; Julian Goderberger - Director
  • Bonus Footage - 1. THE ROUGH SOUTH OF HARRY CREWS
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Featurette - 1. Scenes From
  • Interview - 1. THE ART OF HARRY CREWS
  • Trailer - 1. Original Theatrical
  • 2. Original Theatrical Campaign

Text/Photo Galleries:

  • Production Stills
  • Cast And Crew Photo Mortgage

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Ratings Image
2/4

Goldberger and Giamatti strain too hard for strangeness.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/04/07
Bill Stamets
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

These strengths seldom mesh persuasively.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/04/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
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Ratings Image
2/5

Never takes flight.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/07/07
Chad Greene
Boxoffice Magazine
Ratings Image
B

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.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/05/07
Noel Murray
Onion AV Club
Ratings Image
2/5

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

comment Comment
04/02/07
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

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

Full Review | comment Comment
03/31/07
Doris Toumarkine
Film Journal International
Ratings Image
2/6

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

Full Review | comment Comment
03/31/07
Tom Beer
Time Out New York
Ratings Image
3/4

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

Full Review | comment Comment
03/30/07
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Ratings Image
2.5/4

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

Full Review | comment Comment
03/30/07
James Emanuel Shapiro
Reel.com
Ratings Image
2.5/4

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.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/30/07
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
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Ratings Image
1.5/4

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

Full Review | comment Comment
03/30/07
Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2.5/4

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.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/29/07
Gene Seymour
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

I'd rather watch Goldberger fail than a hundred others succeed.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/27/07
Nathan Lee
Village Voice
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Ratings Image
4/10

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

Full Review | comment Comment
03/23/07
Susan Granger
www.susangranger.com
Ratings Image
C-

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

Full Review | comment Comment
03/19/07
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve
Ratings Image
1/4

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

Full Review | comment Comment
03/17/07
Jason Clark
Slant Magazine
Ratings Image
2/5

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

Full Review | comment Comment
05/22/06
Eric Lurio
Entertainment Insiders
Ratings Image
2/5

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.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/10/06
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Ratings Image
2.5/5

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.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/17/06
Pete Vonder Haar
Film Threat
Ratings Image
N/A

Loaded with obtuse symbolism, the film is not only hard to understand, it isn't much fun trying to figure it out.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/26/06
James Greenberg
Hollywood Reporter
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