The Hammer

Hamill did something no other movie has ever done. It is no small feat to make the audience cry at a movie, nor is it easy to bring a cast of actors alive to where you genuinely care about the characters being portrayed. Those are all hard things to do and are necessary for a great movie... but they are not unique.

The genius of Hamill was the ability to place the hearing audience in a deaf perspective. It reminded me of Momento. You're watching a movie and then all of a sudden you're missing a few words here and there, you know something juicy is happening, but you can't hear. In many ways, the deaf audience has an easier time following the movie than the hearing. Nonetheless, the movie was a fun story with an amazing supporting cast... ESPECIALLY MICHAEL SPADY!

Hamill is such a great movie! Breaking the barriers between the Deaf Community to the hearing. I loved the subtitles throughout the entire movie. Giving a new perspective into both sides worlds.

The writing, editing, music and cast were all excellent! I wish I could see the movie again and bring all my friends and family this time. A must see inspirational heart warming movie. Russ Hamilton performance was outstanding! I'm not a big wrestling fan, but this movie goes way beyond the wrestling storyline. It shows a mans determination to succeed and live his dream.

Shot in my home town of Rochester NY; this movie helps to also educate people about the NTID programs available to the hearing impaired students at the Rochester Institute of Technology. RIT - National Technical Institute for the Deaf - NTID is the world's largest technical college for deaf students.

This movie is great for audiences of all ages!

I know many people on here are writing rave reviews. Talking about how beautifully this film was made. And, I will agree, there were certainly some shining moments, especially with the sound editing.

The thing I had the most difficulty with, was the accuracy. I went looking to see the true story of Matt, and the things he went through. But there were so many things that were wrong (fact wise) that it's hard to know what was real and what was fiction.

I went to school with Matt, graduated in 1993. I personally know many of the people that were in the film. None of them were remotely close to their real life counterparts. Mike Rich, for one, was not even on the same page. Pat Hamill, Janet, and even Stan (his grandfather) were not given anything close to their real personalities either. And the town of Loveland, they made it laughable. There aren't (and weren't) miles and miles of corn. It isn't some one horse hick town as we would be lead to believe. I'm not saying every detail needs to be kept. But at least one would be nice. Do a little research, or at least try to make it look like you did.

Another complaint I have, is for the first half of the film, even though they clearly say he is deaf, they treat him as if he's mentally handicapped. Matt, from what I know of him, was never stupid. People weren't embarrassed by him. I always saw him as respected and well liked.

My final thought is this, the movie's message is great, and I guess that's what's the most important with a film like this. But it had potential to be so much better, and I think Matt deserves a better representation of his life, than what this film has given him.

This is a great indie movie. All the actors who play deaf roles, including the kids, are really deaf and do a great job. This movie is based on a true story of Matt Hamill. I was in a theater where some people actually stood up and clapped at the end of the movie and others were nearly in tears. You can't go wrong with this movie and kids like 10 and up will enjoy it. If you are a fan of wrestling or the UFC or interested in deafness, these are all good reasons to rent or buy the movie.

The two movie makers in this movie were Eben Kostbar and Joseph McKelheer. This is their first full length movie, which they wrote and produced. They can also be seen in this movie in a small role as the two coaches at Rochester Institute of Technology. Eben Kostbar even studied sign language and uses it in the movie and is fluent in real life. Look for more titles from them and their company, Film Harvest in the coming years.

I came to this movie hoping to inspire my eight year-old son, who has a reading disability. I don't like wrestling, although I enjoy other sports, but mostly movies, while my son loves both watching films and pro wrestling. The special relationship between Matt and his grandfather really made an impact on my son and I. A very well-made, well thought-out film, which I would recommend to anyone. We were fortunate to see this yesterday as part of a film festival, in which both the deaf director and deaf star were present for a very illuminating question-and-answer period afterwards. In conclusion, both people, through their work, were able to show what the deaf and wrestling worlds are really like. I hope to see more of the director's work in the future and wish for her the very best.