What Doesn't Kill You

Brian (Mark Ruffalo) and Paulie (Ethan Hawke) have lived a life of crime since their teens. Now a struggling father and husband, Brian wants to go straight to show that what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. But somehow the film fails to create a connection with the viewer and ends up tasting like commercial American beer.

Rating: * *

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Hank (Ethan Hawke) and Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) think they have a safe and simple heist at hand . The plan is to rob their parent's jewellery store at a strip mall. But when it goes horribly wrong, the lives of the brothers start to unravel. Not that it was going well in the first place. Andy's wife Gina, played with aplomb by Marisa Tomei, is sleeping with Hank. That only adds to gut wrench that this film directed by Sidney Lumet induces. A very tight crime drama that completely hides the fact that Lumet was 82 when he directed it.

Rating: * * +

The Hottest State

A whiny love story written and directed by Ethan Hawke. The first half hour showed a wannabe actor William (Mark Webber), vying for the attention of wannabe singer Sarah (Catalina Sandino Moreno) in the most annoying way possible. Worried that viewing the complete film might lead to brain hemorrhage, I turned it off.

Rating: +