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Ethan Hawke finally brings The Hottest State, his first novel, to the big screen, ten years since it was published and explains the simplistic way two people fall in and out of love, through the heart of a passionate man and the words of a practical woman.

Twenty-year-old William (played by Mark Webber), also the narrator, says right off the bat that within a year, he'll be experiencing heartbreak. And although we're doomed for a breakup, the essence of a love story is never the end, but the process that will lead you there.

William moved to New York at 8 from Texas, after his mother left his father, and is living his life as an actor and is merely trying to live life as best he can, but he has hang-ups. He's currently lingering in the space between his abandonment issues and wondering who he is as man.

And so William randomly meets Sarah, an aspiring singer (played by Catalina Sandino Moreno) who like William is trying to make it on her own. Love ensues and the two fall, deep and hard for each other.

Sarah also has hang-ups about relationships, though the difference between her and William is that she's upfront with her issues. The two even playfully talk about their breakup that will surely happen, and although they are joking, you can see Sarah's reservations for falling more in love with William. Despite these subtle red-flags, William doesn't hesitate about how he feels about her. He might be naive or too sensitive for his own good but that's where the true sincerity is shown in this film.

The real grit of William's unraveling comes when Sarah becomes distant and ultimately breaks up with him. William, completely distraught, begins to question himself, the love that once existed between his parents, and can't comprehend how someone can be so in love one minute and so not the next.

He turns to his bitter mom (played by Laura Linney) who tells William that he can either handle life's woes positively or negatively. He even confronts his dad (played by Hawke), who he hasn't seen in years, wanting answers about love, about who he is, about why he left, anything that will help him get over losing Sarah.

The beauty of this film is that it shows what love and heartbreak can do, and not through some elaborate musical number, or some dramatic over the top scene, but through words between a father and son.

Though the film lacked a bit of chemistry between lead actors Webber and Moreno, it also gave way to the notion that when it comes to love, there is never a perfect match.

Hawke gives us a sincere and sweet look at the purity of falling in love, the anguish of losing it, and the hope of finding it again.