Paul Giamatti is one of those great Hollywood stories. 5 years ago he was just a modestly recognizable face but no one knew his name. “Oh, that guy was in…”, recognized as nothing more than a background character actor (not that it doesn’t take loads of talent to do that too). Now today, his name instantly grabs people’s attention when talk of a new film comes out. Take “The Hawk Is Dying” for example.
For a brief idea of what The Hawk Is Dying is about, the folks at Reuters give us this:
Giamatti stars as a Florida auto upholsterer who attempts to liven up his humdrum life by taming a wild hawk. He lives with an overweight sister (Ann Wedgeworth) and an autistic nephew (Pitt) and gets involved with an on-again/off-again girlfriend (Williams) who might be involved in the death of one of the characters. It was directed by Julian Goldberger, and based on a 1973 novel by Harry Crews.
I think the thing I love about Giamatti’s films to this point is that he always seems to play a character… and never a caricature. Know what I mean?
The film is already completed and has been shown at Sundance and Cannes. Strand Releasing has picked up the North American rights to distribute. I’m looking forward to seeing it.
