Hamilton (2006) Reviews

• Lazy Days of Summer

  openeyes2006-10-25

  Hamilton is a quiet meditation on life in a quiet northeast Baltimore neighborhood -- a world away from the grim hustle and bustle of the world that make up Baltimore's cinematic alter-ego "The Wire." There is no real plot, just a situation. An unwed mother waits for her baby's father to live up to his responsibilities. The boy's mother is waiting for the same thing. That's about it. No action. Not much talking. Not much emotion. Just the awkward silence before decisions are made. The film doesn't linger long enough to reveal what decisions are ultimately made. It doesn't even work too hard to explain the actual relationships between all of the characters, it only reveals their connectedness. The film is practically silent, but works lyrically toward a gentle poetry through its images. This is definitely not a film for all tastes. If you expect something, you will probably be disappointed, but if you expect nothing, you might be surprised.

• Strangely hypnotic

  dave-sturm2010-05-03

  "Hamilton" gradually -- oh so gradually -- introduces us to a Northeast Baltimore family and a few of their neighbors and shows us a couple of sleepy summer days in their lives. We come to know that Joe, age 20, is a new father. He and his girlfriend, Lena, live with the baby in the basement of Joe's mother's house. Joe makes money mowing lawns. Lena works in a bakery. Nothing much happens in "Hamilton," but it doesn't happen in interesting ways. I don't think I've ever seen a movie with so little dialogue. One reason is that these people are so intimate and relaxed with each other they hardly need to speak. The viewer also comes to realize that something important is going unstated. It is simply this -- can Joe step up and be a responsible father? Absolutely nothing is stated explicitly in this movie. Even the relationships between the characters are never quite clear. You have to do a lot of surmising. There is a long scene in which Joe walks through what looks like Gunpowder Falls State Park and emerges onto a highway. A car stops and picks him up. We see that the driver is his mother who has earlier had a testy phone conversation with him. He sits sulking and smoking. She is not quite expressionless, but you can't read her thoughts. Minutes go by in which an unmoving camera lingers on their faces, Joe, agitated, in the foreground. You want to scream, "Say something!" Ain't gonna happen. But the silence, and their body language, speak volumes. This film, barely more than an hour long, lingers in the mind after you've seen it. It is never explicitly stated, but there are numerous subtle signifiers that Lena has found a safe place to raise her baby. Several scenes show that she is now enfolded in a family that knows how to take care of children. She is content and it shows on the last scene, a long close-up on her face as she sits in the back of a pickup truck. It is Joe who must come around. I think he probably will. Writer-director Matthew Porterfield likes the unmoving camera (Wonder if he's seen anything by Austrian director Gotz Spielmann?) and slow pans. It's a strangely hypnotic style. He's got a new movie out called "Putty Hill." I look forward to seeing it.

• Good movie, but don't see if you love dialogue.

  ckywill20002006-10-10

  At the end of this film, I thought, "That movie was about nothing, why the hell did I pay 8 dollars to see this?" But, after the movie was over, my girlfriend explained to me (what would men do without smart women?) that the silence is what made the movie good and that there WAS a storyline, because about 3/4's of the movie is silent and the images on screen are what convey the story. Now, I realize it was a good film, it took me awhile, but I did. Although I think it is good, I am a guy who needs dialogue. A very good movie, but not really my cup of tea. I suggest people go to see this movie,especially Maryland/Baltimore natives, but have some caffeine in you because, if your like me, it's hard to sit in a movie theater for an hour with hardly anything else but silence.