The Hottest State
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Is it age appropriate?
About our ratings -
Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
Moody relationship drama is best for adults.
Why We Rated This
for Ages 16–18
What to watch out for
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Violence:
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Sex:
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Language:
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Consumerism:
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Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
This review of The Hottest State was written by S. Jhoanna Robledo
Parents need to know that although the protagonists in Ethan Hawke's romantic drama are barely out of their teens -- which could intrigue some young viewers -- the movie tackles very adult themes from beginning to end, including love, sex, and heartbreak. Ultimately, it's an often-bleak portrait that may be disturbing to tweens and younger teens. The parents are deeply flawed, even cold; the lovers are confused and sometimes hurtful (even bordering on violent, though there's no hitting). Expect plenty of four-letter words, sex scenes (though they're fairly tastefully shot), and even brief full-frontal female nudity.
Families Can Talk About
- Families can talk about the film's take on falling in and out of love. Is it really that messy and problematic? Or do these overly complicated beginnings (and endings) just happen in movies? If so, why is love so heightened and exaggerated in the media? Does the picture that the media paints of love influence our real-life expectations? How so?
More on The Hottest State
What’s the Story?
Is It Any Good?
The film feels somewhat slack in its early stages, meandering like it has all the time in the world. It's also far too stylized; like William, it's a little too deliberately unkempt. The scenes in which William and Sara dance around each other, trying to figure out whether they should plunge ahead, are labored by actorly dialogue, though they pull it off with aplomb. (Other lines feel much more genuine, as when William says of Sara, "She was human. The most human person I'd ever met, and that was sexy.") Hawke proves fairly effective at capturing the giddiness of falling in love, but he really finds his groove when the relationship abruptly falls apart and emotions get messy. He teases achingly truthful performances out of both leads (in the supporting cast, Michelle Williams is excellent as William's sometime-girlfriend). Viewers feel awkward sympathy for William, who just can't let go, and for Sara, too, who realizes she's not ready for intimacy -- at least, not the kind that William, who says he "loved every thought she ever had," is offering. When the film metamorphoses from a simple love-gone-awry piece into a full-bodied story and a statement on how our parents' marriage influences -- no, steers -- our own relationships, it finally feels satisfying.
Movie Details
Run time: 116 minutes
Theatrical release: 8/24/2007, DVD release: 12/4/2007
MPAA Rating: R for sexual content and language.

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