The Hammer (2010)

I'll be the first to tell you that I'm no big fan of wrestling. I just can't get pumped up at the prospect of two muscly, angry-looking, sweaty boys/men sticking their testicles in each others' faces. So the human interest element of a wrestling story really has to involve me, or else the appeal is lost on me.

   Well, "The Hammer" is no Aronofsky's "The Wrestler," but it still manages to be a pretty appealing 'underdog' story, sans "The Wrestler"'s devastating ending. Now inspirational underdog pic can be great "Billy Elliot," good "The Fighter," or just mediocre ("Front of the Class,") and "The Hammer" falls somewhere in the middle category.

   Based on a true story, "The Hammer" follows Matt Hamill, a deaf athlete (played by Russell Harvard, who has the disability in real life,) who struggles throughout his youth for love, inclusion, and acceptance. As a child, Matt's grandfather Stan (Raymond J. Barry) denied him the right to learn sign language or participate in a school with other deaf children.

Something is Killing Tate

Although putting down a movie as weirdly good-intentioned as "Something is Killing Tate" incites guilt in me, the truth must be told, so here goes. This film, an unholy mix of earnesty, melodrama, and blaxploitation cheesiness, comes up with a hodge-podge of issues -- suicide, rape, child abuse, alcoholism, adultery, and childhood disabilities -- dials them up to the extreme, and expects to be taken seriously.

   Tate (Jocko Sims) is dying inside... an unfortunate victim of childhood abuse by his father (Kevin Nichols, a cartoon caricature of larger-than-life proportions.) After a failed attempt to take his life, he is looked after by his fiance and friends. Tate's feeling of impending doom stops him from hopping into bed with his best friend's girl (Luz Beato, who sleazes and pouts her way through the movie, never once convincing us that she has a brain.)

The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk

Will Halpin is smart, articulate and hearing impaired -- he's also a heavy guy who doesn't quite fit in -- either in deaf culture or in the hearing world. Because his profound hearing loss was relatively late in onset, his language skills are quite high, and he doesn't feel a complete connection to deaf culture. On the other hand, he isn't quite accepted in the hearing world either.

Will has decided to leave the deaf school where he's always been educated and attend a mainstream high school, despite the inadequate accommodations offered there. This proves to be a struggle, but he is quickly befriended by Devon Smiley, another smart, nerdy outsider. Amid enduring insanity on the school bus, having casserole thrown at him by a bully, and being ignored by the prettiest girl in school, Will becomes intrigued by a local mystery, the legendary ghost of a man trapped and crushed in a coal mine.

Then a tragedy strikes, and Will and Devon find themselves trying to unravel a mystery. They're on the trail of a killer who may be linked to a political scandal surrounding a local citizen or might simply be a fellow student.

My daughter and fellow blogger, MovieBuff25, recommended this young adult novel to me, and I pretty much read it in one sitting. It offered virtually everything I like in YA novels, a smart, quirky protagonist with a distinctive voice, genuine adolescent struggles, humor, and a strong, well-told story. The murder mystery was icing on the cake. I really connected with the protagonist and was sorry when the book ended. The fact that this novel touched on the plight of men who spent their lives working in the coal mines also enriched the story.

I highly recommend this for readers age 13 and up.

Read More Reviews: Reading Junky's Reading Roost; The Book Nest; Alison's Book Marks; Bookish Blather; One Librarian's Book Reviews

Rating: 4.5

5- Cherished Favorite	4 - Keep in My Library	3 - Good Read	2 - Meh	1 - Definitely Not For Me