[.ca] The Hours (2002) (Widescreen)

Additional Features:
It's hard to imagine anyone wanting more than what's on this lovely, single disc. There are four newly produced segments: a talk with composer Philip Glass, a featurette on the three main actresses, a must-see 10-minute feature on the writer of the novel (Michael Cunningham) and the screenplay (David Hare), and a crisp half-hour history of Virginia Wolfe with many anecdotes from various scholars. There are two commentaries. Highly recommended is Cunningham with director Stephen Daldry as they go through the movie with a good sense of appreciation for each person's craft. Cunningham is quite charming in revealing the story's origins while Daldry makes even the smallest task of filmmaking interesting. Daldry's so detailed he apologizes for such seemingly trivial bits as filming the opening sequence at a different time of year than it actually happened. The main three actresses speak separately on the other commentary track, and even though fans will enjoy their insights, the energy is very low; perhaps they should have recorded the track together. Streep's deep laughs at her little jokes are very smile-inducing. --Doug Thomas

Worth Your Time:
I actually saw this movie before I read the book--something I rarely do. And for once, I'm glad it was in that order. The trio of actresses playing the roles did such a fabulous job, that I liked having pictures of them in my head as I read the book, and in retrospect, marveled at the film maker's ability to jump back and forth in time so seemlessly. A beautiful, thought-provoking and creative story. Well done.

Melodramatic Yes....Dissapointing No!:
Recently I viewed the movie, "The Hours" starring Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris and Julianne Moore. The movie is based on the book by Michael Cunningham and follows the book's ideas about as precisely as possible for a screenplay conversion. The story revolves around the author, Virginia Woolf, as she writes her story, "Mrs. Dalloway" and how the words she writes affect two other women in different time periods. Virginia is portrayed by Nicole Kidman and she does a wonderful job showing the essence of Virginia's depression and self-doubt. A brilliant writer who involves all of your senses in her prose she succumbs to the artist's tendency to be self-doubters and insecure, possibly from all the exposure to critics at every bend and corner. The cigarettes she smokes seethe about her as she contemplates her suicide and a word to leave behind, like her soul is going up in smoke. She lies beside a dead bird and she feels dead before her time, unable to fly and stifled by depression that is never fully explained. Her end is filmed in such a way that she surrenders herself to the river's current and slowly gets swept away by nature but she seems somehow freed by her own death, floating along in time and crossing the borders that time presents. Julianne Moore plays the character, Laura Brown; a pregnant homemaker in the 1950's who is struggling with what life has to offer her. She seems to exist in a blur of emotion all of which sways towards depression. She attempts to bake a perfect cake for her "perfect" husband's birthday and fails sending herself into a moment of panic that almost produces her own demise. She runs away from her child and stays alone in a hotel ready to take her life and that of her unborn. She reads "Mrs. Dalloway" and becomes involved in another's misfortune which somehow awakens her to her senses and she retreats back to the normalcy of her mundane life. I could not help but be emotional during a scene where she is preparing herself for bed and her husband calls from the bedroom, "Come to bed Laura Brown," it left me with a sickened feeling. In Laura's eyes you see her sadness and her desperate need to leave but she stays, unhappily, like a servant. Meryl Streep plays, Clarissa Vaughn, a modern woman who follows the footsteps of Virginia's character "Mrs. Dalloway" as she spends her day catering to others. She buys flowers in desperate attempts to cheer up those around her when in fact she is the one who is in need of cheer. She tries to revive a dying man played brilliantly by Ed Harris, Richard, who is succumbing to the power of AIDS and all of its downfalls. Clarissa opens windows for brightness where all she sees is gray; she perks up the grayness with flowers but only manages to bring a feeling of hopelessness to Richard instead. His writing award seems to go unnoticed although she plans a tremendous celebration his soul just shuts down. Under all of the pressure Clarissa breaks down and experiences the sadness of the day and the reality of death. Richard falls from his own window in his desperate act of suicide and mercy. Clarissa is left to deal with all of the pain. In the end we learn that Richard is in fact the son of Laura Brown. Seemingly she has transferred her loneliness and despair to the life of her own son without regret. She explains that she abandoned her family after all, needing to conduct her life on her own terms. The music and the language of the film inspire creative juices, especially the scenes where Virginia Woolf is speaking. Having read the book first I was able to experience more than the film managed to contain although the film was more easily explained. I recommend both expressions for the full impact of these desperate women and the lives they lead. It will not take hours to be gripped by their needs.

Brilliant and timely:
Rare is the film in which you've heard of almost everyone in it. Like Gosford Park --similarly robbed with a single Oscar in 2001's competition--this film assembles the talent needed to bring a difficult script to life. Weaving three stories together is a deft feat, accomplished here by connecting the stories with the ties that bind them. These include the party each of the three main characters plans to host on the day in which the film takes place, the same-sex kiss each shares before the day is out, and Mrs. Dalloway , the Virginia Woolf novel that one character is writing, one is reading, and one is living. Also instrumental in keeping the flow of the movie going is a superb score by minimalist Philip Glass. It's the acting that really shines, though. Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Meryl Streep earn our empathy in every scene, radiating their feelings above and beyond the carefully crafted script. Kidman's scowling Woolf, battling husband Stephen Dillane for the right to control her own troubled existence, is as believable a tortured genius as can be imagined, outshining even Russell Crowe's portrayal of John Nash. Moore's '50s housewife hides the pain of her discontent from her husband--an excellent John C. Reilly--but not from us. Streep's face telegraphs her joy at buying the flowers for her party and her guilty dismay when Ed Harris scolds her for living to throw it. Still, why should you watch a movie about three women in the throes of crisis? Because the film conveys at least two messages of profound importance. The first is that happiness is not to be taken for granted. As Streep lies on her bed, talking to daughter Claire Danes, she recalls the day, long ago, when she awoke at dawn from a night spent with Harris, before both embarked on lives with same-sex partners. She felt such possibility, such joy--the beginning, she thought, of happiness. But that was happiness, she now knows. She should have known it then. She should have understood it sooner. She's been trapped in that moment ever since, looking down a road never taken, rueing the brambles that have long since overgrown it. She should have been living the life she's got. The second message is that things are getting better. The three stories carry across four generations. In the first, Virginia Woolf kisses her sister in desperation at her situation. Miranda Richardson's reaction is a fit of hysterics, and she flees to London. In the second, Moore's housewife kisses neighbor Toni Collette to comfort her about an impending medical procedure that threatens her womanhood. Collette partakes, then pretends it didn't happen. In the third, Streep kisses lover-of-ten-years Allison Janney passionately, seeming to acknowledge in a moment Janney's years of living in the shadows of a memory and renewing a relationship that seemed troubled as the film opened. Danes gives a hug filled with forgiveness whose significance, in my opinion, outweighs all three kisses, showing that the next iteration of the story can contain not only a modicum of happiness but also forgiveness for those who suffered through the stories of the past and couldn't quite cope. The Hours begins and ends with a suicide, with another in the middle for good measure. Yet it affirms the value of life, of moving on, of progress, of the notion that tomorrow will be better. It is a movie of depth and ideas. If you haven't seen it yet, you're missing out on one of the decade's most profound cinematic achievements.

Incredible, though not exactly party material:
Wow....this movie was incredible. Almost every actor had a top notch performance going. The only character whose feelings i didn't really understand were those of the man with AIDS. This is not a film for those who cannot take two and a half hours of thoughtful emotional things taking places in real life, not some mission impossible film. The ending of this movie is a bit unsatisfying, but in real life does anything really conclude itself into a nice sappy ending? And to those who say that the despair of the three women isn't plausible- because they're just a bunch of spoiled rich brats- depression can affect anybody of any race gender age and income level. Shame on you for thinking money is the key to all happiness. Just a warning to those who have not seen it: This is a very emotionally draining film. I have not seen a film that is more depressing than this one.. Dont watch it at a party because everybody will just be gloomy for the rest of the celebration.

Gorgeous:
I had put off seeing this film, mostly because of a couple friends saying how "dark" and "depressing" it was. To the contrary, I found it to be just beautiful. The acting is of course brillant--a handful of the most talented actresses of our time. But the real star is the script! Just the most amazing piece of writing ever. A very moving film that I can't recommend more.