"Hawks" draws some inspiration from "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) with Timothy Dalton in the role of McMurphy and single handedly instigating all manner of mischief around the hospital ward he is in. The comedy on offer in this regard is at least funny and the characters are all interesting and vividly drawn ones. The film also manages to successfully engineer some beautifully subtle changes in tone, especially when Bancroft (Dalton) poignantly ruminates upon the outstanding beauty to be found in the world around us which we generally take for granted each day of our so called busy lives and it certainly gives you a greater appreciation of a life being lived beneath the all-consuming shadow of death.

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