The Hours
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Movie Reviews of The Hours
Movie Review: One of the best movies of 2002!
Summary: 5 Stars
2002 review:
I loved this movie! I thought it was superbly done. It reminded me of MAGNOLIA in the way it intertwined the stories together, and how they all came together. It was a very moving, powerful film with EXCELLENT performances. Nicole Kidman was AWESOME as Virginia Woolf and Julianne Moore was mesmerizing. Ed Harris was PERFECT in his role. It is a film that really makes you think, and as you're watching it, you realize that at one point in your life, you have felt like these characters before. I will end up buying this one, and now I want to read the book as well.
2010 review:
It is clear to me upon reading many of the comments on this site, that most of the viewers did not "get" this film. To fully grasp the themes of the film, it helps to have read both Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway" and Cunningham's "The Hours" in order to understand the psychology of the characters and the reasoning behind their life choices. This film is more or less about three women from three different decades, who are sublimely unhappy with their lives, and who try to cope with that unhappiness through art and creativity. All the while, they seriously consider suicide as an end to their misery, but opt to stay alive to make others around them happy. Some survive this inner struggle, and some don't. Some will argue with the film's humanist worldview, but as far as I can tell, these emotions are real, these situations are real, and they happen every day. The Hours only brings those things to the light.
Much has been made of the "lesbian" kissing scenes in the film. The viewers who have commented vehemently on these three instances have indeed taken it all out of context. These women so desperately want to make a connection with another human being, that the kisses aren't what they seem to be on the surface. They are not sexual, by any means. Yes, there are gay and lesbian characters in the film, but there are gay and lesbian people in life, as well.
Every time I see this film, it's as though I see it through new eyes. I always gain a fresh perspective, and this has much to do with the fact that I am older, and have gained much more life experience than when I first saw the film years ago. Everything about the film bursts with life, from the beautiful cinematography, to the acting, the Philip Glass' beautiful score. There is also an unexpected scene of forgiveness that is truly touching.
You should come away from this film a little more enlightened than you were before, that is, if you are willing to go there...and it always helps to read the books beforehand to gain a fuller experience. Those who have claimed that the film is about "nothing" are dead wrong. This film works on so many levels. It is nothing short of a miracle.
Highly recommended!
Movie Review: "Someone has to die . . ."
Summary: 5 Stars
". . . that the rest of us should value life more." An unpleasant thought -- but then Stephen Daldry's brilliant *The Hours* is an unpleasant film, inasmuch as it "pleases the crowd". However, it offers pleasure of a much more difficult sort -- aesthetic and intellectual. Because there is no intelligent cinema geared toward the ladies out there, *The Hours* HAD to be a masterpiece; HAD to feature three of our greatest actresses (Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman); HAD to be about Virginia Woolf Herself, the modern literary touchstone of what we loosely call "feminism". Nothing else, apparently, would do. Perhaps Hollywood figures that the "Lifetime Channel" supplies enough basic entertainment for women that's about women, and is thus free to pursue sequels to *The Matrix* and *Shanghai Noon*. (Safe to say that consumers of such stuff will find nothing of interest here.) Oh, and the movie also HAD to be based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, just to add a 2nd layer of literary pedigree. The miracle is that the movie is this good. The possibility of slipping into pretention is avoided by the sheer competence of the cast, the tastefulness and subtlety of the direction, the occasionally luminous photography, and especially the difficult structure of this story. It's about three different women in separate eras: Nicole Kidman as Woolf, fighting insanity and trying to write *Mrs. Dalloway* in the 1920's in Richmond, England; Julianne Moore as an unhappy wife in L.A.'s suburbs during the Fifties; Meryl Streep as a present-day New Yorker named Clarissa who's preparing a party for former lover Ed Harris, a bitter man dying of AIDS who has just won a poetry prize. The movie seamlessly interweaves these three stories. Moore, in the midst of chronic depression (and currently reading *Mrs. Dalloway*, whose fictional main character ALSO prepares for a party), is also preparing for an occasion -- her husband's birthday, enlisting her pensive son to help bake a cake. But it's not just parties that the vignettes have in common: there's also the urge toward self-destruction; discontent at the disappointments of life; the simple travails of being a woman in any era; and the not-unqualified "success" that's earned after bitter struggling against self and society. This is a magnificently ambitious film. I'm sorry to see it being hijacked by dogmatists from the Left (Gloria Steinem's divisive comments in praise of the film have been particularly ridiculous) as well as the knee-jerk reactionary blather about the "cultural elite" from the Right. But *The Hours*, like any great work of art throughout history, will survive the blabbermouths. It's the most aesthetically pure, difficult American movie of 2002. Difficult to love; very easy to admire.Movie Review: I adored every minute of this film!
Summary: 5 Stars
After having read Michael Cunningham's novel, I could not imagine how a successful movie could be made from it. With its three separate plots, I expected visual confusion and disjointedness. Instead, I was stunned by how expertly everything was brought together. The adaptation is both first-rate and insightful, excising the extraneous and focusing on the most crucial matters contained within the original novel. "The Hours" instantly earned its place in my heart as one of my favorite movies.The film begins and ends with the suicide of Virginia Woolf, a writer driven by madness and a passion for both life and death. Director Daldry then jumps to the 1950's as pregnant Laura Brown wakes up to her oppressive suburban life, and then to the 1990's as Clarissa Vaughn jumps from bed to prepare for a party for her dying best friend, a poet striken with AIDS. Just as quickly, the audience is taken back to Virginia Woolf as she, too, embarks on a new day, one which will result in her penning of the beginning of her famous novel MRS. DALLOWAY. The beginning is probably the most confusing part of the film as Daldry establishes these three separate lives in three disparate times; however, once the first five minutes has passed, everything is strongly established and easily discerned. The minimalist soundtrack composed by Philip Glass couldn't be more perfect for this story of variations on a theme; the music creates tension by crescendo, then retreats into its quiet repetition, leaving the audience gasping. I'm not sure how many people in the theater realized how well the music manipulated their reactions.
Most of the action in this movie is psychological. It is a film of close-ups, where a twitch or averting of the eyes tells volumes. Because of this subtle nature, the acting must be brilliant and understated. Fortunately, it is - and then some. Nicole Kidman's portrayal of the tormented and brilliant Virginia Woolf is extraordinary; she IS Virginia Woolf. Julianne Moore also turns in an expert performance, while Meryl Streep is, well, very Meryl Streep - perhaps too much so. Claire Danes, in her brief appearance as Clarissa's daughter, illuminates and enlivens everything around her. Allison Janney as Clarissa's lover Sally provides a competent and natural performance, although her role is more ornamentation than character. So much has been said about the actresses in this film that one of the best performances is often overlooked: Ed Harris as the dying poet, Richard.
If you hate art films or crave fast-moving plots, you'll be disappointed with the deeply psychological nature and thematic development of "The Hours." All others will be richly rewarded by this powerful, expertly constructed film about what it means to hold onto life and then let it go.
Movie Review: Always the Years Between Us . . .
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Hours" has become one of my favorite movies, and it is one of the most extraordinary films that I have ever seen. Directed with skill by Stephen Daldry, the film moves fluidly from one time to another, helped along with an exhilarating score by Philip Glass. It also is a showcase for actors, several of whom give the finest performances of their careers.
As a profound meditation on suicide, "The Hours" is not always easy viewing. But it is also a film about the value of life and the choices we make as we go through it. It tells the story of three women who are connected through different eras. In 1923, Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) fights her inner demons while writing the novel "Mrs. Dalloway." Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) is a wife and mother in 1950's Los Angeles who reads "Mrs. Dalloway" while contemplating taking her own life. Finally in 2001 New York City, Clarissa Vaughn (Meryl Streep) hides from her emotions while planning a party fer her dying friend (Ed Harris), much like the character of Mrs. Dalloway.
This summary may seem incredibly boring, but the movie is not. The three stories flow seamlessly in with one another, and there are a thousand tiny moments that take your breath away. The acting is a large part of the film's success. Nicole Kidman is a revelation as the tortured Virginia Woolf, and richly deserved the Best Actress Oscar that she won. Kidman disappears so completely into the character that she is nearly unrecognizable, and there is a ferocious intensity that radiates from her every glance and inflection. I'll be surprised if Nicole Kidman ever tops this performance, it's astonishing. Meryl Streep gives what is probably her best work since "Sophie's Choice" in 1982. Her Clarissa has tried to bury herself in work to keep from remembering that she isn't happy with her life, and Streep's scenes with Ed Harris as Richard, a poet dying of AIDS, are master classes in great acting. Julianne Moore is also haunting as Laura Brown, a housewife who is drowning in depression. In the scene where Moore leaves her son, her face quickly disintegrates into tears. It's incredible work.
Besides the three main stars, the entire cast is uniformly excellent, even in smaller roles. Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Toni Collette, John. C. Reilly, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Dillane, Claire Danes, and Eileen Atkins all are outstanding. The only exception is Jeff Bridges, who seems to think that playing a gay man means adopting a lisp and a girlish giggle.
"The Hours" is a film that will make you think, and that requires more than one viewing to catch all of its subtleties. I cannot recommend it highly enough. It excels in every aspect of filmmaking to become something genuinely great.
Movie Review: Be well rested, with in serious mood to appreciate it
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of those movies where you have to be in the right mood to watch it, because it is deep, broody, sad, though provoking and not happy. One doesn't always need or want a happy movie, but when it comes to serious movies of this genre I really do believe that you have to be in the right mood. The first time I saw it I was so depressed after watching it. Then the second time I was ready to watch it and to see it with all my senses.
Being the avid book reader than I am, it even peaked my curiosity about Virginia Woolfs book Mrs. Dalloway which I have since bought. I was so in awe of Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf and the more indepth experience one gets from seeing Kidman as Woolfe and the mental health challenges she lived with.
Clarissa Vaughn played by Meryl Streep is in my opinion one of Ms Streeps finest roles. She is one of the finest the world has ever seen when it comes to diversity and an ablility to make you feel as if you are a fly on the wall wherever she is. Call me sappy but I really do watch ALL what is in a movie. Like someone who sits and people watches, I look at the stove in the kitchen and do a double take to see if those are Le Cresuset cookware on the shelf or is that a KtchenAid mixer in red I see? And when Clarissa slowly scummbs to tears on the floor you want to reach out and hold her and tell her you understand. She gives and gives and you keep hoping that someone will see her and her needs for a change...
Maybe I am simply blessed to have been born after the end of WW2 baby and can remember the wallpaper that is in the home Laura Brown lives in played by Julianne Moore. Is that flour sifter like the one my Mom had? Wow look at that sofa like Aunt Margaret's. And the there is the whole sexual elements. Which is so interesting to think about in 2003, when being able to be authentically what we want to be is so valued. You see this woman and you want to step into the scene and tell her to be what she wants to be and not what she thinks society expects her to be.
And the music is something else. I am so impressed with how three women and their stories were so well intertwined but also separate and how the director Stephen Daldry was able to so smoothly yet distinctly switch our attention so well, almost like watch three top tennis players playing on the same court. Each with their own style but so interconnected.
This is one of the few movies I watch every few weeks simply because there is so much story in 114 minutes. It draws you back over and over. And when a film can do that for me I know it's a classic and one I am proud to have in my home library.