Catalina Sandino Moreno

Uh oh, looks like Ryan Phillippe didn't pack any smiles for his trip to NYC for last night's Stop-Loss premiere. Sad face. He also doesn't seem to have packed his costars Channing Tatum or Joseph Gordon-Levitt, not to mention Miss Abbie Cornish. That's all okay, though, because special thanks to all those workouts Ryan brings enough handsome for the whole lot of 'em. Just maybe a little bit sleepy.

To see more of the premiere including Howard Stern, Beth Ostrosky, Peter Dinklage and others just read more

I should admit that I assumed The Hottest State, a movie based on Ethan Hawke's first semi-autobiographical novel, would be pretentious. Thus, keeping that in mind, I found the movie to be better than expected. I daresay I almost enjoyed it.

Just almost, though. For having nothing new or original to present to us, the movie is way too long at 117 minutes — and it feels much longer than that. The actors in the lead roles (Mark Webber playing William and Catalina Sandino Moreno as Sarah) do their damndest to keep us interested, but that's a hugely tall order. Few actors can handle carrying an entire movie, and as engrossing as they are — Moreno most of all — it's too much responsibility for these two.

It might have been helpful if the script were slightly more interesting. Boy meets girl, boy loves girl, girl breaks up with boy. Boy indulges in whiny self-destruction and seeks out his father (with whom he has Major Issues) to, I guess, unearth some additional pain while he's already riding the Agony Train. Hawke, too old and gross to play William (who he undoubtedly molded in his own image back in 1996) shows up as William's elusive Texan dad who tells his son to "never stray too far from Texas in your heart." Keep that in mind as you read more

"I don't seem to have the first idea about how men are supposed to behave. There's something wrong with me. What do you think it is?" muses William Harding (Mark Webber), the young man experiencing what looks to be a kind of Gen-X suspended adolescence in The Hottest State. Based on his first novel, The Hottest State is Ethan Hawke's latest project which he adapted for screen, directed and also stars in. From the trailer it seems to have quite a dose of the angst and self-deprecating humor one might expect from Hawke.

William is an actor from Texas who journeys to New York City in search of a career. There, of course, he falls for a singer/songwriter and appears to then score with another woman after the singer crushes his heart. Maria Full of Grace's Catalina Sandino Moreno, Michelle Williams and Laura Linney also star. To check out the trailer before the movie opens August 24, read more