For performing half this film with a predatory bird perched and flapping angrily on his arm, Paul Giamatti deserves some sort of award.
The Hawk Is Dying (2007)
Tomatometer
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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.
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... 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]
Starring: Michelle Williams, Paul Giamatti, Robert Wisdom, Rusty Schwimmer
Starring: Michelle Williams, Paul Giamatti, Robert Wisdom, Rusty Schwimmer, Ann Wedgeworth, Michael Pitt
Director: Julian Goldberger
Director: Julian Goldberger
Screenwriter: Julian Goldberger
Producer: Mary Jane Skalski, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte
Composer: Jonathan Goldberger
Studio: Strand Releasing
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Reviews for The Hawk Is Dying
Imagine an entire film infected with hangdog sensibility, unrelieved by humor or narrative interest, and you have The Hawk Is Dying.
It's awfully hard to review a movie called The Hawk is Dying without avoiding bird synonyms and metaphors.
Giamatti delivers yet another superb performance, turning what might have been a freak show into an unexpectedly moving experience.
Resonant but angst-ridden, it's a subtle, strangely spiritual human drama that unfolds slowly, very slowly.
Loaded with obtuse symbolism, the film is not only hard to understand, it isn't much fun trying to figure it out.
The principal human character warns more than once, "Don't look at The Hawk." That's good advice, film fans.
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.
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.
It's not exactly a one-man and a bird show, but it's as close as we're going to get.
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.
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.
Isn't anywhere close to perfect, but giving yourself over to its performances is wonderfully rewarding.
Ultimately, this inscrutable film is just an exercise in self-indulgence.
Latest News for The Hawk Is Dying
April 28, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
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March 29, 2007:
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This week at the movies, we've got trips to the future ("Meet the Robinsons," starring Angela Bassett), ice-capades ("Blades of Glory," starring Will Ferrell... More...
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