Cinema Society

THE HAMMER

Average
Rating

3.3

Tuesday, February 21, 2012, Reading Cinemas Town Square 14 Theatre

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21

On Screen: 4:30pm or 7:30pm (You Pick!)

Reading Cinemas Town Square 14 Theatre

Cinema Chat (Aud. 14) begins 30 minutes prior to screenings

Introduction begin 15 minutes prior to screenings (Aud. 14 & 8)

Discussion follows screenings (Aud. 14)

Winner, Audience Award, American Film Institute Film Festival

THE HAMMER

THE HAMMER is a sports drama depicting the struggles and successes Matt Hamill faces on the way to becoming a champion. Raised among those with the ability to hear, Matt later finds himself no less an outsider amidst the Deaf Community. Through sheer determination, he uses his perceived disability as an asset, and becomes both the first deaf wrestler to win a National Collegiate Championship and an inspirational force to the hearing and deaf alike.

Directed by Owen Kaplan, THE HAMMER stars Russell Harvard, Raymond Barry and Shoshannah Stern.

Rated PG-13 for some sexual material

Running Time: 108 Minutes

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24-Feb-12: Georgi - Rating: 3

Not bad if you like wrestling. Not bad if you are interested in the Deaf World (I know they don't necessarily say hearing impaired). This is an example of a movie introducing us to something we may not necessarily come in contact with. Competent. Acceptable. Workmanlike. But missed the passion the main character must possess to succeed in such an intense support, hearing or not. Certainly missed a lot of punch.

22-Feb-12: M.roe - Rating: 4

What a great film for a first time director and what a treat to have him and his co-star (who almost steals the whole film) at our viewing/discussion. I found it most interesting to discover the “culture” that is the deaf community, I think one of the more surprising points I learned was that there is sort of bigotry or prejudice amongst the deaf for those that attempt/learn to speak and those that don’t want to speak anything other than sign language. Also that Matt would still needed to clear his mind to focus before a match when one might think that since he is deaf there wouldn’t be anything to clear out (in terms of noise or other distractions) but that is obviously ignorant to think as there are certainly sights and thoughts that are needed to be removed from the mind’s eye in order to be prepared for the competition. Very good movie, would recommend.

22-Feb-12: Margaret Downing - Rating: 3

Must confess that endless wrestling scenes, however well done, don't hold my attention. I would have preferred more depth in the story -- we all knew what was going to happen! I would have liked to know more about the brother -- help or hindrance? -- why The Hammer would have disappeared for a week when his grandfather died without telling anyone where he was -- The film had a kind of this happened, then that happened feel. Cliches abounded. In my opinion, the characters Jake and Coach Gross seemed the most real... Nonetheless, this is an impressive work for a first time director.