The Hours

"The Hours" is not the easiest movie to describe. It portrays three women affected by Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway". The first is Woolf herself (Nicole Kidman) in the 1920's, slowly but surely descending into madness. The second is 1950's housewife Laura Brown (Julianne Moore), beginning to feel unfulfilled with the suburban lifestyle. The third is present-day Clarissa Vaughn (Meryl Streep), contemplating the future.

This is an interesting movie, although it certainly is a downer. Moore's role is particularly interesting, since she played almost exactly the same kind of character in "Far from Heaven", released around the same time. Also starring are Ed Harris, John C. Reilly, Claire Danes, and Jeff Daniels. Certainly worth seeing.

In all honesty, as much as I liked Nicole Kidman's performance, the movie was made for me with Julianne Moore's. She made me so nervous, has me so much on edge, cause you didn't know what the hell was wrong with her. Did she have a crush on Toni Collette? Did she just have a breakdown? Does she want to burn the house down? To the movie's credit, you don't know what exactly is wrong, until the end. But as tense as it made me, I realized that in most movies you are clearly tipped off as far as who is angry, and why. This movie doesn't, and I didn't appreciate that until it was over.

Kidman was great, but I've always thought she had more talent than she was given credit for. Not many people could have made "To Die For" so convincing. Kudos to Nic for her career choices, post-divorce.

Streep, Ed Harris and Jeff Daniels were non-entities. I worship Streep and Ed Harris, but their part of the story didn't do a single thing for me. I kept waiting to see if Julianne was going to drive her car off a cliff. Without having seen all the nominees in Best Supporting Actress, I'd have to say another actress would have to go pretty damn far to impress me as much as she did. 8/10.

I saw this film for the first time when I was fifteen and beginning to discover my own feminism.

Nicole Kidman plays Virginia Woolf writing her famous novel Mrs Dalloway, Julienne Moore is Laura Brown, a 1950 s housewife reading Mrs Dalloway and Meryl Streep is Clarissa Vaughan, a modern-day version of Mrs Dalloway. These three women, in their separate timelines, affect each other's day as they grapple with the threat of suicide (in one form or another) and the ghosts of their past.

One moment in particular that makes my heart ache every time I watch it is when Clarissa (Streep) is preparing the "crab thing" for a party for her writer friend Richard (who is battling AIDS). Streep has a wonderful way of using her body language to express more than words ever could. Clarissa stands over the sink and tries to hold back tears. In that moment, we know all that she has lost, all that she yearns for, all that she regrets all that she has laboured and all that she can never change.

In case you are wondering, I don t think it is necessary to read Mrs Dalloway or the novel The Hours before watching this movie. Although I strongly recommend an attempt on these masterpieces of literature, this film is a beauty on its own.

Stand outs: Despite being a male character in a female-centred film, Richard (Ed Harris) is a linchpin in this story. Harris manages to balance stubborn martyrdom and crippled pride. Toni Collette also delivers a powerhouse scene as Laura's neighbour Kitty. Overall, stellar performances from the entire cast.

"The Hours" is an extremely intelligent movie. It's deep and sensitive and the script is something different for a change. The acting couldn't get any better. EVERY role was casted perfectly. I never really liked Nicole Kidman but she is a fantastic actress and at the moment she just chooses the right roles. She definitely deserved the Oscar. Juliane Moore is amazing, too. I wonder if there is any genre she can't do. And then, there's Meryl Streep. Will this woman ever stop being great? I mean after all the great movies she's been in in the 80's, she's still making exceptional films such as "Adaptation" and "The Hours", whereas other actors who were great 10 years ago pretty much lost it today *cough*Pacino*cough*DeNiro*cough, cough*. The director did a wonderful job and the score is another big plus of this movie. The haunting music underlines the depressing all around atmosphere and lets one feel how miserable these main characters are all the time. At times I felt like these women's sadness was explained too little, though. Maybe that's manly ignorance but I couldn't totally figure out why Juliane Moore's character was so depressed all the time. It was a little annoying that she never stopped crying and you couldn't tell why. I paid attention and I did try reading between the lines but that was a mystery to me. Probably just a personal problem. All in all I think this is the 2nd best movie of 2003's Oscar movies (1st being "The Pianist", 3rd "About Schmidt").

THE HOURS (2002) **** Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Ed Harris, Jeff Daniels, Allison Janney, Claire Daines, Stephen Dillane, Miranda Richardson, Toni Collette, Jack Rovello. David Hare's brilliant adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Michael Cunningham depicts three interlocking storylines all sharing the one common thread: Virginia Woolf's novel `Mrs. Dalloway' ping-ponging back in forth from 1940's where the suicidal Woolf (Kidman barely recognizable under a prosthetic nose; one of her finest roles to date) is in the midst of composing her work in question; 1950's with depressed homemaker Moore (equally compelling) preparing her loving husband's birthday celebration and contemporary book editor Streep (ditto) organizing a banquet party for her ex-lover and poet (Harris in a memorable performance) dying of AIDS, all three characters are imploding while their world's are spinning (metaphorically) out of control and their very lives' meanings in question to how trivial they truly are/aren't. The sterling assembled cast gives the film merit despite its melodramatic trappings and director Stephen Daldry showcases his three leads to their best strengths and utter vulnerabilities. At points poignantly heartbreaking and wholeheartedly humane.