The Hottest State
THINKFilm | Release Date: August 24, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
11
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Hawke has made this movie his way and the result is a story that is by turns romantic and disquieting. It's well worth the price of admission. Read full review
75
New York PostLinda Stasi
Could be an overwrought mess if it were in less capable hands. But Webber and Moreno are so good, it's hard to believe they're not really deeply and meaningfully in lust. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Hawke’s script is admirably light-handed in showing how the hero’s unreasoning passion is fueled by his parents’ painful divorce, and despite the story’s date-movie aspects, its most penetrating observations come not from the kids but from the young man’s estranged father and mother (Hawke and Laura Linney, both superb). Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
At times this indie is as repetitive and self-indulgent as its protagonist, but it captures a bit of the madness of being unrequitedly in love. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
It's nothing new, but Hawke captures some evocative textures and honest moments. Read full review
60
Village VoiceAaron Hillis
Hawke quite capably taps into the bittersweet complexities of young, love-struck idiocy. Read full review
50
VarietyLeslie Felperin
Patchy lead perfs and mannered helming subtract value from pic's tangible plus points (solid supporting turns, pleasant score). Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Actor-turned-filmmaker Ethan Hawke's second feature, an adaptation of his own novel about youthful heartbreak, is hobbled by its singularly unappealing lead characters. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Hawke, who is very good as the young man's estranged father, had best stick to what he does best. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
At around the halfway point, its characters’ haranguing voices begin to grate on you. People in their early 20s, even pretty people, lose their appeal when they dwell this obsessively on their own inchoate turmoil. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Personal and heartfelt, it's nevertheless bogged down by a lack of perspective on the material and a pointlessly frilly visual style. Read full review
50
SlateDana Stevens
A viewing of The Hottest State is likely to conclude with a crosstown sprint of a different kind: As soon as the credits start rolling, you can't wait to get out. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
In The Hottest State, Hawke uses fairly standard childhood motivations for his unhappiness and reveals too little real interest in the Sara character. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
Hawke has created a standard-issue, Sundance-friendly indie film that's full of the predictable angst suffered by Manhattan artistic types, but unfortunately the lead characters are both so callow that you finally don't care much about them. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Judging by the far more interesting adults in the film--Braga, a terrific Laura Linney as Webber's mother, and Hawke as his father--the solution for Webber and Moreno is to grow up and not be so full of themselves. In their current state, they make for unpleasant company, and so does the film. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
To quote Dennis Hopper from the film "Search and Destroy": "Just because it happened to you doesn't make it interesting." Read full review
38
PremiereGlenn Kenny
The problem is the material itself, with its trite observations and shockingly flat writing. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneScott Schueller
This self-important movie can't save itself from being disheartening. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy Burr
When Laura Linney turns up about an hour into The Hottest State, you can see the movie that might have been. Read full review
0
Entertainment WeeklyScott Brown
Whatever you're imagining -- self-serving self-awareness; unedited hipster mopes; yammering dear-diary script -- The Hottest State, Ethan Hawke's bathetic tale of a good-looking young actor's first heartbreak, is far worse. Read full review
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