Product Details

• Actors: Paul Giamatti, Rusty Schwimmer, Ann Wedgeworth, Michelle Williams, Robert Wisdom
• Directors: Julian Goldberger
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Strand Releasing
• DVD Release Date: May 29, 2007
• Run Time: 106 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000OCZD56
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #135,289 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Hawk Is Dying" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

When stricken with a family tragedy george becomes obsessed with taming a wild red-tail hawk. In a tour-de-force performance he locks himself into a battle of wills with a fierce creature that would rather die than succumb. Studio: Strand Releasing Release Date: 05/29/2007 Starring: Paul Giamatti Michael Pitt Run time: 106 minutes Rating: Ur

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ignore the lesser reviews--one of the most compelling films I have ever enjoyed, September 17, 2007

By 

Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Hawk Is Dying (DVD)

This movie is truly extraordinary, and the principal actor, who also starred in Big Fat Liar (Full Screen Edition) combines brilliant acting with a very capably trained hawk to provide one of the most satisfying 90 minutes of "tuning out" that I have enjoyed in some time.

Sure, this movie has every corney bit from the special child to the sexed up teen-ager to the idiot father that ran, but it kept my complete interest throughout. The hawk, and the man, came of age together, the man found love, and the hawk soared.

This is a GREAT movie.

Some others featuring animals as wildlife that I have enjoyed:
Dances with Wolves (Widescreen Edition)
The Edge
Black Beauty
The Snow Walker
A Man Called Horse

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not for all audiences but intriguing nonetheless, July 19, 2007

By 

Roland E. Zwick (Valencia, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hawk Is Dying (DVD)

***1/2

At what point, in a person's mind, does obsession finally turn to madness? That seems to be the question raised by "The Hawk is Dying," a grimly depressing yet strangely compelling film about a man possibly being pushed towards insanity by the bizarre, sudden death of the mentally retarded nephew he helped to raise.

The always intriguing Paul Giamatti plays George Gattling, a single man who lives with his sister and her teenage son near Gainesville, Florida. Gattling is determined to capture a wild hawk and train it to do his bidding, despite the fact that all his earlier efforts in that direction have resulted in tragic failures. After his nephew somehow drowns in his own waterbed when he is with a local prostitute (whom Gattling set him up with), Gattling begins to slip further and further into apparent madness, cutting himself off from family members and friends and becoming ever more obsessed with taming the hawk he has captured.

This is no easy film for the casual moviegoer to sit through. It is harsh, grim and depressing, and we're not always sure what the overall purpose of the film is at any given moment. Still, paradoxically, it is this very air of enigma, coupled with Giamatti'a bravura, tour-de-force performance, that most gives one reason to check the movie out. Giamatti is totally riveting as a man driven by an almost manic need to establish control over another living creature, even if that means relinquishing the hold on his own sanity a bit to do so. He receives superb support from Rusty Schwimmer as his good-hearted but dimwitted sister, and Michelle Williams as the prostitute strangely embroiled in the boy's mysterious death. And writer/director Julian Goldberger, basing his work on the novel by Harry Crews, makes the most of the rural, exotic setting to help create an otherworldly mood for his bizarre little tale.

"The Hawk is Dying" is not for every taste or audience demographic, but for those searching for something a little different, out-of-the-mainstream and challenging, this one just might fit the bill.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hawk is Flying, June 24, 2008

By 

Eric Belcastro (Bridgeville, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hawk Is Dying (DVD)

The Hawk is Dying was an incredible movie - austere, honest, powerful, involving, dynamic, and real. Do yourself a favor, if you are into film that has artistic merit, watch this film.