Rating: 
Summary: The Feel-Bad Movie of 2002
Review: Boy, if you're feeling suicidal, this is NOT the movie you want to see- It might just push you over the edge! The film follows three different Women in three different decades: Nicole Kidman plays author Virginia Woolf in the 1940's, Julianne Moore plays a desperate housewife in 1950's suburbia, and Meryl Streep is a modern-day woman distraught over a dying friend (Ed Harris) and a cheating lover (Allison Janney).
Woolf is in the midst of a severe depression as she tries to write her famous book, Mrs. Dalloway; Moore's character, Laura Brown, is trying to cope with her own desperation as she reads the book; and Streep's character, Clarissa Vaughn, finds her life echoing the life of the book's title character. The ways in which these women deal with their problems are disturbing, to say the least, and I had a LOT of trouble feeling any sympathy for Moore's character in particular; Her final solution to her life's problems is loathsome and unforgivable. The performances by the three leads are spectacular, as is Ed Harris' portrayal of Clarissa's dying friend. It's easy to see why the Oscar voters bestowed so many nominations on this film. The revelation of the connecting thread between the Moore and Streep stories was a stunner; It's sitting in plain view for the whole film, but I didn't see it coming. It hit me like a ton of bricks. While not a happy experience, The Hours is certainly a rewarding one.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the most thought-provoking films ever....
Review: It is usually the case that great books make rather bad movies, however, "The Hours" prove the opposite. Anyone who has ever read Virgia Woolf will have an impression that this movie is a chance to see Virginia Woolf herself - Nicole Kidman delivers an astonishing perfomance, I must admit I did not believe that she is capable of performing on such a level. Her co-stars Moore, Streep, Harris are not less terrific than Kidman herself. The Hours is a suprisingly successful adoptation of Michael Canningham's book. It is not a film for an average viewer, it takes more than that to understand it. It stroke me that the director managed to bring to the tvscreen 3 different masterpieces of a written word: Woolf's "Mrs Dalloway", Canningham's prize-winning novel, and of cource the work of the screenwriter, and still bring up the message which at least two former were trying to deliver. The Hours is a film worth watching and worth thinking about. You'll whether adore it or you'll hate it.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Time
Review: Michael Cunningham interweaves a beautiful tapestry of the timeless intricacies of a woman's soul. We go on a journey with three generations of women who all find themselves at a pivotal point in their lives. They have lost themselves in the noise of everyday routines and are left to try and discover where their true contentment lies. The three women are find themselves in a state of emotional paralysis and cannot seem to articulate their deepest desires to those around them. They begin to detoriate one by one until an unexpected twist and resolution descends upon them. You will have to watch it or read it to find out! Clarissa Vaughn(Meryll Streep), Laura Brown (Julianne Moore), and Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) show us that the pains of the human spirit remain constant throughout time. The cords that run through all of us continue on and we will find strength from one another. I loved the intertwining of Woolf's novel "Mrs. Dalloway", a truly ingenious technique that seem to be popping up in many screenplays this year.A must see!!!
Rating:
Summary: An Emotional Film About Disease, Despair and Death
Review: Virgina Woolf (Nicole Kidman), Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) and Clarissa Vaughn (Meryl Streep) are three women apparently connected through the book MRS. DALLOWAY. Woolf as the author, Brown as the reader and Vaughn as the embodiment today. This is a complex and nuanced story that is translated to film in a very effective way. The scene shifts which gradually reveal the nature of the interrelationships among these women (both symbolic and real) are incredibly well directed, and the three stars are all superb. There are several additional excellent performaces, especially Ed Harris as the dying writer and friend of Vaughn for whom she is having a party (which mirrors the parties in the hours we experience in the lives of the other two women). In one of the strange turns of fate, Julianne Moore is cast as a troubled housewife in the seemingly idyllic fifties, thus in effect reprising her role in FAR FROM HEAVEN. And John C. Reilly does a great job as her seemingly clueless husband, recreating his role in CHICAGO without the musical routines. The overlapping stories of these three women are emotionmally powerful, but I suspect that as some reviewers have opined this is one of those instances where the movie does not and indeed cannot do total justice to the book given the inherent limitations in its format. While the cinematography is striking and the scene cuts among the three time periods well edited, there is an incredible amount of information for the viewer to absorb and little time to contemplate the events. (At times it would have been nice to be able to press pause or rewind, or to be able to reread a chapter or put down the book to think.) My sole caution is that this is a movie that is entertaining but not uplifting. Several reviewers have commented that it is about life, but the lives in this movie are not lives of joy. This is about people suffering from mental and physical disease (depression and Aids) who are living lives of quiet desperation and for whom the ultimate solution is sometimes suicide. These are people who even when outwardly appearing to cope with life with various degrees of success are frequently experiencing despair. My wife enjoyed the movie and was completely absorbed by the story and the powerful emotions that it elicted. While I agree that it was a well made film and an interesting story and was entertained by the excellent performances, I did not find it particularly compelling or enjoyable. However, I did feel that the surprise ending was excellent and was one of the factors that made me glad that I had seen the film.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best movies ever!!!!
Review: This is a brilliant movie and a great adaptation to the book. It is by far the best acting i have ever seen and each person cast does a phenominal job at portraying thier character. This will definitely be one that i will purchase in the future.
Rating:
Summary: A great suicide movie
Review: I used to read a lot of Nietzsche and imagine that my interpretation was different from what other people think because I could trace elements of an intellectual death wish sweepstakes theme through the myriad other elements in his writings. I once had a governor who was asked what he did on his vacations, and who he was with, and his standard answer seemed to be, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." This movie has a lot of stories that combine the themes which make the intellectual death wish sweepstakes idea palpable that is explained best by the line, "I didn't want the servants to talk."
The timing on this movie, matching the geopolitical and economic turmoil of our times so perfectly, might illustrate how well a society can also reach a tipping point. We are all so busy waiting for the fairwell note from Saddam that our failure to have our way with Osama bin Laden is hardly noticed anymore, except by people who are so far out of the loop that they might be considered effete intellectual snobs for peace. There might have been a war on in 1941, maybe just a phony war in which London hadn't been entirely blown away yet, but the movie was not entirely clear that anyone going to London could end up with a rocket in her pocket, instead of rocks. The rest of the movie had such peaceful settings that most people would not think this show is about spending a trillion dollars for thermonuclear weapons, but that is what was going on in the twentieth century, long after Nietzsche thought that he was dynamite. Who dies? In this movie, it's a long, slow process, and the intellectual involvement is the most intense aspect of self-destruction. Society, on the other hand, seems to be set for whatever happens to people who don't have the opportunity to seal themselves away somewhere with plastic and duct tape.
Rating:
Summary: I adored every minute of this film!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: THE HOUR HAS COME!
Review: Stephen Daldry's new maxi-sleeper is here. Based on Michael Cunningham's brilliant novel, "The Hours" is (and will be for years to come) a stunning, jolting time-travel between three different centuries that is so real, it's all just about you and I and right now. Starting slow, the film opens with the apparent suicide of classic women's writer Virginia Woolf. A few scenes, an introduction to her husband, and the hypnoyic under-currents of Philip Glass's music opens the film. You are suddenly wisked away to the 20th century(1950) in Los Angeles, where a frustrated housewife deals with her unhappy husband and lonely, confused son. Not enough, the story transports to the year 2000, and two women living together, dealing with the up-coming demise of one's former male lover from AIDS. You need to know more, but that's actually quite enough. Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris, Jeff Daniels, and a surprising Claire Danes complete the near-perfect acting core. Stabbing at age-old issues and opening the door on the unmentionable, "The Hours" builds to an emotional crescendo that is almost unbearable. You cannot take your eyes away. What is life about? Why are we here? Why am I married to this person? How do I escape this decaying marriage? Is suicide an option? How do I survive this very next....Hour. Deftly directed, expertly acted, "The Hours" is shocking...because it's real. It's hard to take. I sat down wIth a box of popcorn. The drama started unfolding. The guy next to me left the theater. Raw reality can hurt. "The Hours" is more than a melodrama about 3 lesbians and a series of unattractive males. It's about real people, and the consequences of what we do. As the movie ended, everyone filed slowly out. I was one of the last to leave. It took me awhile. I couldnt't stop crying.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional Movie-Making. One of the Year's Best!!!
Review: "The Hours" is a breathtaking motion picture experience. The three stories blend together seamlessly, and quite surprisingly, taking the viewer for an emotional ride into the lives of three women, so obviously tormented by their confined sexuality. Virginia Woolf is writing "Mrs. Dalloway" in the early 1920's England. Laura Brown is reading the book in 1940's Los Angeles, while trying to bake her husband a birthday cake, and Clarissa Vaughn, a book editor in 2001 New York, has been dubbed "Mrs. Dalloway" by her friend Richard, a bi-sexual writer dying of AIDS. The three female performances are magnificent. The supporting cast is a knock-out. Many people have called this film depressing, but I don't think it's depressing so much as incredibly true to life, and very real. The emotions experienced by these three women, and the people surrounding them, are no doubt emotions we have all experienced at one point. The film does not shy away from these emotions and that makes it all the more powerful. The words pouring out of the mouths of the characters have such strength and beauty, is it impossible not to be touched. It's fascinating movie-making and the shifting of time periods is absolutely wonderful. Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf comes up with the first sentence for her book. "Mrs. Dalloway said she'll buy the flowers herself," she writes. Laura Brown, the exceptional Julianne Moore in her second Oscar worthy performance of the year, reads the sentence. Then Meryl Streep, as Clarisa "Dalloway" Vaughn, tells her lover, "Sally, I think I'll buy the flowers myself." It works amazingly well. No doubt many people will be turned off by the film, but one has to appreciate the beauty of such an exhilarating masterpiece. The pulse-pounding musical score, different for each era, only adds to the genuine emotion. This is truly one of the best films of the year, and all three women deserve Oscar nominations. "The Hours" pass like minutes--this film is superb.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad movie
Review: I thought when I saw this movie it would be entertaining, but it wasn't. The theme of this movie homosexuality, sucide and mental ilness is not my form of entertainment. This movie was the worst one I ever seen except for the movie American Beauty. Please don't go to see this movie.
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