Goldberger and Giamatti strain too hard for strangeness.
Comment
05/04/07
The Hawk Is Dying (2007)
27 %
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
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.
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Genre: Dramas
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... [More]
Starring: Michelle Williams, Paul Giamatti, Robert Wisdom, Rusty Schwimmer
Director: Julian Goldberger
Reviews for The Hawk Is Dying
Top Critic
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.
04/05/07
Imagine an entire film infected with hangdog sensibility, unrelieved by humor or narrative interest, and you have The Hawk Is Dying.
04/02/07
Top Critic Ultimately, this inscrutable film is just an exercise in self-indulgence.
03/31/07
For performing half this film with a predatory bird perched and flapping angrily on his arm, Paul Giamatti deserves some sort of award.
03/31/07
Giamatti delivers yet another superb performance, turning what might have been a freak show into an unexpectedly moving experience.
03/30/07
Isn't anywhere close to perfect, but giving yourself over to its performances is wonderfully rewarding.
03/30/07
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.
03/30/07
Goldberger's stubbornly insular script might have fared better on stage, where the story would feel more contained than suffocating.
03/30/07
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.
03/29/07
Resonant but angst-ridden, it's a subtle, strangely spiritual human drama that unfolds slowly, very slowly.
03/23/07
The principal human character warns more than once, "Don't look at The Hawk." That's good advice, film fans.
03/19/07
It's awfully hard to review a movie called The Hawk is Dying without avoiding bird synonyms and metaphors.
03/17/07
It's not exactly a one-man and a bird show, but it's as close as we're going to get.
05/22/06
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.
04/10/06
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.
02/17/06
Loaded with obtuse symbolism, the film is not only hard to understand, it isn't much fun trying to figure it out.
01/26/06
Top CriticLatest News for The Hawk Is Dying
April 28, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review 
More...
March 29, 2007:
Critical Consensus: Here's To You, "Robinsons"; "Blades" Needs Sharpening; "Lookout" Worth A Look
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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