The Hottest State

Sarah Garcia (Moreno), a young girl with dreams of the big city, sets out for New York to begin her singing career. Enter romantic William Harding (Webber), an aspiring actor transplanted from Texas. They fall in love, and then as often happens with young love, someone gets dumped. But Harding can't seem to move on, pining and yearning insufferably for his lost love, and in doing so annoys everyone around him. Mom Jesse (Linney) offers sympathy, but it's not until distant dad (Hawke) shows up that the lovesick puppy gets some clarity and maturity about the situation. Hawke serves as writer/director/actor in this self-indulgent and overly talky bit about young (and unrequited) love based on Hawke's own semi-biographical novel of the same name.