Hours

I will admit that I would probably not watched this movie if Paul Walker had not tragically passed away last Sunday. Prior to this, I only knew about Walker from the "Fast and Furious" films. This quiet little film certainly introduced me to a whole new and better Paul Walker.

"Hours" is about Nolan Hayes. His wife Abby was rushed into a hospital because of premature labor minutes before Hurricane Katrina hit their city. Difficulties pile up on Nolan as the hospital is evacuated, but he could not leave because his newborn daughter is hooked on a ventilator while in an incubator. Nolan had to deal the power outage, malfunctioning battery, food shortage, violent looters, and abject loneliness as he is trapped in desperate isolation.

The production values of this film are obviously low budget and the supporting cast may be mediocre. But there is no denying "Hours" is an incredible one-man show for Paul Walker, the actor. Very few actors have attempted this sort of project where basically there is only one character. Tom Hanks did it in "Cast Away" and Sandra Bullock did it in "Gravity", and now this project for Paul Walker.

I have to say that Walker surpassed my expectations and actually pulled it off very well with a very memorable performance. You can feel his frustration and his desperation as the hours pass hopelessly and endlessly. The tears that rolled down his face all look like they came from very deep emotions welling within him. The final scene was a thing of absolute beauty which alone elevates the entire film to a higher level.

With this film, we will see the breadth and depth of Walker's true acting talent, now lost in that horrific car crash. Fortunately, he was still able to release this one special film to forever remind us of his abilities which we will now be missing.

¨Every second counts.¨

Hours is Eric Heisserer's first feature film, but he is mostly known for his screenplays for The Thing (the 2010 version) and Final Destination 5. He takes a pretty interesting premise but fails in the delivery as the film has too many awkward moments with a lot of forced dialogues. Take the scene where Paul Walker's character is being given very bad news from a doctor concerning his wife. The scene felt entirely forced and never managed to draw the audience in. There are numerous scenes like that in Hours that just feel completely out of place. Paul Walker is on his own for the majority of the film and once the story began to drag it failed to engage me. There were few thrills and hardly any action scenes. For the most part it was just seeing Walker speaking out loud to his recently born infant, or to a rescue dog he encountered later on in the film. When he wasn't speaking to himself, the film gave us unnecessary flashbacks about how he and his wife met. Hours should've been a film full of tension, but Heisserer failed to deliver by adding so many unnecessary and forced scenes and not relying on Walker's physical performance alone.

The film takes place in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina as Nolan (Paul Walker) takes his pregnant wife, Abigail (Genesis Rodriguez), to a local hospital as she enters early labor. The Hurricane is about to hit the city hard while the doctors ask Nolan to stay in the waiting room while they treat Abigail. A few hours later Doctor Jeremy (TJ Hassan) comes bearing some bad news. Abigail had a complicated labor, the newborn baby has to stay on a ventilator for the next 48 hours until she learns how to breath on her own. The mother didn't make it. Making matters worse, the hospital is hit hard by the hurricane, forcing everyone to evacuate. Nolan is told to stay in the hospital with the baby until an ambulance can come back and take them to safer ground. Cut from the outside world, Nolan is on his own forced to make quick decisions in order to save his baby's life.

If as the tagline suggests ¨Every second counts¨ than Eric Heisserer did a very lousy job because there are several seconds wasted on this film. It dragged during several moments making me feel like I was watching an over two hour film, when in reality it was just a 95 minute movie. Paul Walker isn't bad in this film, but he just isn't given the right material to carry a film on his own. The most exciting moments of the film came when a rescue dog showed up and it kind of brought life to an otherwise lifeless film. Hours is full of awkward and dull moments that bring down this film. Walker could have been given less dialogue and the flashbacks should've been cut out of the film. Some more external shots of the storm might have worked better because the wreckage scenes were pretty well shot. Overall it wasn't a terrible film, but it did fail to keep me entertained or invested in the story.

It is a feeling I have not experienced before. This feeling of reviewing a movie of an actor who has been one of my favorites and knowing that this is one his last productions his fans would ever have the privilege of enjoying. If you are a fan of the late star Paul Walker indeed HOURS is a must watch and what's more it's a setting that we are not accustomed to seeing him in vs. the adrenaline pumping action movies that has made him a household name that would be remembered forever.

Decently directed unfortunately quite poorly written by Eric Heisser, this script offers Paul Walker a herculean Hollywood challenge. I have to admit a fan wouldn't see that Paul Walker is capable of pulling HOURS off as well as he does since it is pretty much a one man show much like Tom Hanks in CASTAWAY. Well he took me by surprise when he embraced the role of the father (Nolan) who would go through any ring of fire to save his new born daughters life. Many a critic would compare this movie with the Hanks hit and then arrive to conclusions that Walker didn't quite create the impact his character Nolan was entirely given the responsibility for. Plain and simply I will agree since Walker was milking the best out of the script he was given and the script is obviously half baked. Something to look forward to is to see Nolan fighting for survival. His desperate plea for life at the brink of the deaths one way highway, his determination and perseverance to claw through all layers of difficulty for that additional one minute of breathe of life for his daughter. It is painstakingly beautiful and will draw tears to your eyes and make you swallow back a few times.

For a debut attempt in direction HOURS is decently done. However the tag line of the movie and the actual pace of the movie cannot on any level isn't interrelated. "Every second counts" is what the promotional tag line reads misdirecting one to believe that the drama would be intensely woven tight that the slightest mishap may upset everything. Do not be delusional; do not expect this at all. Instead there is not intensity at all; there is suspense but no intensity. If it wasn't for the acting this script would have been as putrid as SKYLINE. Directed and written by Eric Heisser one would not be astonished of the poor writing if one had watched FINAL DESTINATION 5. Eric Heisser has the tendency of attempting intense scripts. He is good at setting the tone but is still working through on his follow through. But still for just only the 5th script he has ever written this one needs ample credit. The only reason I am harping on the plot is because the movie is based on the aftermath of Katrina and I keep looking back at the Tsunami after math movie THE IMPOSSIBLE. I guess if you are brave enough to take a jab at the challenge of writing a movie around a true disaster you need to be ready to take certain hits.

To be released on the 13th December HOURS is the story of Nolan who loses his wife Abigail to the birth of their own daughter on the night of the devastating typhoon Katrina. Moments after his daughter is born Nolan finds out that he has lost his wife and his daughter requires the support of an incubator until her first cry. The patients are evacuated to another location which is more suitably equipped to handle the typhoon, however does not have the equipment to move baby Abigail and her incubator. How far will a father go for her daughter? Nolan's character is portrayed as if its gold. Every nook and cranny is accounted for in his battle for survival. The ranges of emotions from denial to acceptance each played well within the limited script provided. It's surprising to see Walkers diverse acting capabilities that have been over shadowed by his own success in the Furious franchise. Paul Walker sends us one last message and it's beautiful.

A must watch movie for the fans.

RIP Paul Walker. 1973/09/12 -2013/11/30

TITLE: HOURS DIRECTED BY: ERIC HEISSER STARRING: PAUL WALKER RATED : PG-13 RATING: 07/10 RUNTIME: 97 MINUTES

In August 2005, in New Orleans, Nolan Hayes (Paul Walker) brings his pregnant wife Abigail (Genesis Rodriguez) with Eclampsia to the Saint Mary Hospital. Abigail delivers a premature baby and dies and the baby needs to be kept in a ventilator. A few hours later, the Hurricane Katrina hits the hospital, cutting the power and the hospital is evacuated. Nolan stays with his daughter since the equipment is not portable and soon he finds that the battery is in the end of its life and only can hold three minutes of charge. He finds a battery charge and has initially to crank every three minutes. As long as time goes by, the battery holds less charge. But the situation gets worse when marauders invade the hospital.

"Hours" is a dramatic and tense movie with Paul Walker that has magnificent performance in the role of a father that struggles to keep his baby alive during the tragedy of the Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The screenplay is filled with his recollections of his beloved wife that breaks the tension. Despite the story is almost theatrical in one location, it never disappoints. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Contagem Regressiva" ("Countdown")

This film in a sentence: What a father will do to keep his premature daughter alive, when the world is falling down around him.

Why this film isn't receiving a better rating I won't know. This is the best acting from Paul Walker I think anyone will have seen. Just watch it (especially if you thought 'The Impossible' was a great piece of film)

One of the core roles a man feels he needs to provide for his family is protection and to provide; this film shows this by putting Nolan (Walker) in scenarios where you feel his struggle to keep the only thing he has safe.