The Hottest State (2007/THINKFilm)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: B-     Film: B-

 

 

Ethan Hawke has grown more than most in the business from child actor to mature adult actor of exceptional intelligence.  He is least-known for dabbling in directing, but has a second feature film under his belt (following Chelsea Walls) in The Hottest State, a remarkable independent feature about a love affair that is too good to be true, then suddenly proves to be so.

 

William (Mark Webber in an impressive performance) is a young man trying to find his way through life, but life has not always been good.  His parents divorced, father (Hawke) has not talked to him in years and mother (Laura Linney) is a bit of a nervous wreck who is not altogether in general.  One day, he meets an aspiring singer/songwriter named Sara (Catalina Sandino Moreno) who slowly become deeply interested in each other.

 

The involvement soon becomes serious and goes fast, something they do not consider at first, but after he takes a trip, he comes home early to see her, only to find she is having doubts about their relationship.  Then it starts to slowly, painfully implode, which especially affects his state of mind in ways no one expects.

 

The screenplay by Hawke is exceptional, delving a good bit into the emotional, sexual and personal nature of the rise and fall of a love relationship.  Hawke is a good actor (having a few minutes here on) and offers a sophomore effort that shows great growth as an artist overall.  This is the kind of honest, palpable film independent moviemaking used to be about and could be about again, with the leads being very brave in their performances in particular.  Everything flows so nicely, you could imagine Hawke directi8ng as a second career on a normal basis.  See it as soon as you can.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is a little soft on this DVD despite being shot in 35mm, being a new film and being very well lensed by Director of Photography Christopher Norr.  The device of the flashback pieces being sepia tone may ring a tad false, but this is a really good looking film and I look forward to seeing it on a higher format.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is not a knockout, but for a dialogue-based work, has good ambience throughout and the music is balanced nicely as well.  The combination is a pleasant sit-though, though I want to see it again in a newer format or if it ever gets booked in a movie house nearby.

 

Extras include a very good feature length audio commentary by Hawke, Norr, producer Alexis Alexanian, editor Adriana Pacheco and composer/actor Jesse Harris that is much more like what we should be hearing more often as the participants really cover so much about the production and thoroughly so without trying, showing how much personal investment went into the film and how most of it landed up on screen.  We also get a trailer for this and a few other THINKFilm releases and Hawke’s first film; a short called Straight To One that shows Cassavetes’ influence and inspiration.

 

That makes this one of the best independent releases of the year.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo