Hawaii (2013)

Instant Favorite.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Hawaii's scarce use of dialogue may put you off at first, but the beautiful music that fills up the emptiness surely makes up for it. Every time they do speak, it's either something simple or profound. The overall "feel" of the film is homely and warm. The softness of their voices adds to it. The tension between the characters is totally palpable and frankly adorable. There isn't really any sexual content, which was a pleasant surprise to me. But I digress. Definitely don't watch this if you're in a rush. Take your time, rewatch it many times. Soak it up. There's a lot of heart in this movie that has you feeling a thousand things at once. The setting is beautiful, the camera work keeps things interesting, the acting is really natural and easy to watch, and when it's over you'll wish there was more. Hawaii avoids clichés while maintaining a kind-of-plot (the one down-side: not a whole lot going on besides two men falling in love, but I, personally, don't mind at all, and I don't think you will either). It's realistic and tender and just pretty neat! Definitely deserving of a 10/10.

I've been watching a lot of gay movies recently and this one is the worst so far. I like slow movies with moments to think and with only a few characters, but this one was even for me too much. Empty scenes and silence are only good if there is a meaning behind it. The whole story seemed pointless and so did most of the scenes. The close ups of the guys crotches were so overdone (we get it- it's a gay movie). Everything in this movie seemed to be shot for the sake of looking artistic or deep. But they just copied the outer shell of such movies and wrapped their hollow story with it. So now we have something that seems like someone's first try. There was no chemistry between these guys. I just couldn't buy it. Their relationship is based on what? On not talking to each other and weirdly looking at each other body parts? At one moment it seemed like half the movie these guys are drying themselves with a towel! There are just too many unnecessary scenes in this movie. I think the most important thing to start a relationship is to enjoy each other's company, to laugh, have fun and TALK. The guys don't know anything about each other. After 2,3 weeks this guy asks the other- hey, what are you writing? Come on! And the last scene was unexplained (I guess because of lazy writing) and totally not-magical or romantic. The guy disappeared for a while and suddenly appeared again and had nothing to say. And the kissing scenes were really bad. The movie could have been so much more.

I read many glowing reviews about this and was very disappointed. This movie made so little sense in many ways. I can't write a review without spoilers. OK this was supposedly a romance and the men hadn't seen each other since childhood. Indeed they didn't even recognize each other. Rather than have so many extra long shots where one or both leads are staring at who knows what, and sparse dialogue, how about more reminiscing and/or playing catch up and maybe the audience would have a clue why they fell in love. The stoning of the cat with no remorse was really distasteful to me and invalidated their supposed sensitivity. There was way too much "cat and mouse" with the physical stuff too. Eugenio places Martin's hand on his heart after the run and....nothing. They play around in the lake doing touching things straight men would not likely do and....nothing. Martin stares at Eugenio's crotch several times, they finally end up in bed together, albeit after partying, Eugenio rubs Martin's crotch (over his pants) and....Martin gets out of bed.FINALLY at almost the end Martin kisses Eugenio, and Eugenio just repeats "no". Why? No explanation here. Somehow in the remaining few minutes they reunite, also no explanation.So the photography and scenery were very nice; both leads attractive esp. Martin although Eugenio needed a different style of glasses.Here's an idea - why not interview several long term Gay couples and make a composite romantic story instead of illogical plots like this one?

Beautiful movie. Flawless. The direction is amazing. The music is just as fantastic as the photography, locations, story and editing. I really enjoyed every aspect of it. The work of the actors is a pleasure to the senses. They are completely natural and seem effortless in every scene, word and gesture. Manuel Vignau and Mateo Chiarino are really worth following. I'm sure that after "Hawaii", we will hear a lot more from them. I think it's a gift and a joy for the public and not as common as it should, seeing performances like the ones this two actors deliver in this film.This is the first Marco Berger movie (director) I have seen and I cannot wait to see more. He is honest, sensitive and clearly a perfectionist. It's a really poetic and subtle love story that moves you in a very special way. I really appreciate the fact that anybody can relate to this story and to their characters, their fears and their dreams, no matter what their sexual orientation might be. A very intimate and personal film.No gay clichés here. Non. "Hawaii" leaves you with a smile on your face and with very high spirits. If you can buy it, do, it's the kind of movie that you can see more than once.