ETHAN Hawke – actor, writer, director – couldn’t come up with a good enough story to keep Uma Thurman home, but his lat est attempt at storytelling, “The Hottest State,” shows he’s learned a thing or two since then.
Based on his not terribly successful 1996 novel of the same name, “The Hottest State” (that would be Texas) tells the story of obsessive love gone bad. (Which assumes, of course, that obsessive love can ever go good.) William (Mark Webber) is a young New York-via-Texas actor who is a player – but a player with a giant soul for the right woman. In this case, the right woman is so wrong for him, it’s astounding.
William meets and becomes obsessed with a new-in-town musician named Sarah (Catalina Sandino Moreno) who has a quirky independence that’s endearing. He falls madly in love with her and then she with him, albeit reluctantly. When William gets a part in a movie in rough, rural Mexico, he begs her to go with him. She agrees – but only if they go a week before shooting begins and she can split as soon as he starts working.
Off they go. It’s refreshing to see that there are no white-sand beaches, fancy resorts or “Girls Gone Wild” crowds for them. Their hotel is more of the “Mexico on Five Dollars a Day” variety, a fleabag so bad it would be hard to get even fleas to book a room.
The good news is that they don’t have to worry about getting a touch of the old tourista, since they never leave the room. But the wild love doesn’t last. Madly in love is followed by flat-out madness when she goes back to New York and decides that maybe she’d rather not be in love with him anymore.
Yes – it’s that awful kind of thing that happens in real life. Suddenly the other half of the best relationship you’ve ever had doesn’t like you anymore. Interesting to see a man going nuts over lost love for a change.
William just can’t let Sarah go, and so he does a slow descent into crazy – or maybe just crazy love.
During that descent, William gets sporadic advice from his detached mother (Laura Linney), a selfish piece of work who seems to be giving great advice. But if you actually think about what she’s saying, it’s pretty useless, clichéd nonsense.
When his mom’s advice doesn’t help, it drives him to find his long-lost dad (Hawke), hoping long-lost dad’s house will help him recover from long-lost love. Pop is, of course, wise. Better yet, he gives William a car.
“The Hottest State” 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.
Webber, in fact, is so good that you get the feeling you’re watching a young Gary Oldman, or even Brando – minus the chiseled face and muscles. Doubtless, this movie isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tequila, unless you can’t resist a good hysteria-filled telenovela.
Me? I love ’em. But even if you hate ’em, watching Webber work is worth the price of admission alone.
And as a bonus it’s got the best soundtrack of any movie this year. Hawke, who is the first cousin once removed of Tennesee Williams, proves himself to have a good eye for the small world of big love.
THE HOTTEST STATE
***
Slow boil.
Running time: 117 minutes. Rated R (sexual content, language). At the Cheslea and the Sunshine.