Rating: 
Summary: A masterpiece ...
Review: I really liked this movie, even if it is rather depressing. As another reviewer said, this is not just a film, it is an experience (and one worth having)... If possible, try to see it when you are not particularly sad, because the story in itself is pretty gloomy. It talks about depression, bleakness, suicide, sexual identity confusion and lack of purpose. The whole film is pervaded by hopelessness and ennui, and the melancholia is omnipresent. On the other hand, Stephen Daldry (the director) somehow managed to achieve magnificently what previously seemed impossible: a movie based on Cunningham's book, "The hours". Where is the difficulty, you might ask (only if you haven't seen the movie)?. Well, the answer is in the plot of the film, based on three women: Virginia Wolff, Clarissa Vaughan and Laura Brown. They live in different times and cultures, but they share something: a feeling of vacuity, a total absence of matter,an all encompasing emptiness that threatens them... It is really beautiful to see how the film goes seamlessly from one woman's life to that of the other: there is a wonderfully perfect inconsistence that is only explained (and linked) at the end of the movie. You must pay attention, because the film, in order to link the story, shifts permanently forwards and backwards in time. However, that extra attention is compensated when at the last minutes of this movie you comprehend the meaning of the name of the film, and which is the link (besides those that are evident) between these sories. Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman)is depicted as an intelligent woman battling against madness in the 1923 England, while she starts to write what will be one of her best novels, "Mrs. Dalloway"... Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep), a successful literary agent in the present, is planning a party for her former lover, who is now dying of AIDS. Laura Brown (Julianne Moore), a seemingly happy pregnant woman in 1949 Los Angeles, is trying to make a cake for her husband's birthday, while she starts to read "Mrs. Dalloway". Three women, three different lifes but something in common: how to fight against that we cannot touch, against depression, inner demons?. "The hours" shines... Its light is rather dark, that is true, but it is incredibly good even for someone like me, who generally doesn't like dramas. It is not only a film, but a masterpiece...
Rating:
Summary: life affirming film gets unfair label
Review: I am surprised at the number of people who have missed the entire point of both Woolf's MRS.DALLOWAY and Cunningham's THE HOURS. In both works, the issue is how we live our lives:do we squander the good times,assuming there will be more?; do we hold back in some way those we love?;do we choose life over death,whether a literal life or death, or a perceived entrapment?
Virginia Woolf clearly expresses her love for Leonard in the frame narration of the film. She can not continue to ask him to cope with her life struggles. Clarissa Vaughan only learns to appreciate life as she understands that each moment is special and not to be wasted. Laura Brown is not a lesbian;she is simply a woman who cannot live a life that she perceives is more death than life--she does not abort her child, she does not kill herself, she leaves. Kate Chopin in her novel THE AWAKENING called her character's life " a role for which fate had not fitted her." While it is true that one could say:then why marry and have children? The 1890 Edna Pontellier and the 1950 Laura Brown both lived in societies which told women their roles and anyone who desired autonomy was deemed a pariah. More's the pity!
Don't worry about feeling depressed when watching this film, rather pay attention to the life affirming women who "look life in the face and know it for what it is."
Rating: 
Summary: Superb performances lend distinction to this unusual movie.
Review: "The Hours," based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Michael Cunningham, is a movie about three women, all of whom have a kinship to Virginia Woolf's character of Mrs. Dalloway. The three women, played in three different eras, are Virginia Woolf herself, Laura Brown, a fifties housewife, and Clarissa Vaughan, an editor living in contemporary New York. Nicole Kidman is superb as Virginia Woolf. She captures Woolf's brooding intensity and recurring madness to perfection, and her vulnerability makes one's heart ache. Julianne Moore turns in another fine performance as Laura Brown, a suburban housewife who is depressed in spite of having a loving husband and an adorable little boy. Brown feels that she must escape or kill herself. Finally, Meryl Streep is Clarissa Vaughan, a successful editor who lives with her female lover. Clarissa also spends a great deal of time tending to Richard, a close friend who is dying of AIDS. Stephen Daldry does a fine job of eliciting sensitive and compelling performance from a very fine cast, and the screenplay is faithful to the book without following it slavishly. However, the background score is too loud and intrusive, as if the director wants to emphasize that these people are going through major crises. In addition, for those people who are not familiar with Virginia Woolf's life and writings, it is unclear why Laura Brown and Clarissa Vaughan are so unhappy. Laura may be bored with her life, but it is hard to understand why she could not have found some accommodation less drastic than the one that she ultimately chose. Clarissa's angst is also puzzling, since she has a full life, and is surrounded by people who love her. She is an attractive, vivacious, intelligent and successful individual. Her life matters. Therefore, although the acting in "The Hours" is absolutely dazzling, I suspect that the message may be a bit cloudy for some viewers. Still, I urge you to see "The Hours" for the wonderful performances by a very talented cast.
Rating:
Summary: Possibly the Most Depressing Film Ever
Review: Well, I've tied "The Hours" with "Requiem for a Dream" for most depressing film ever made- and this is certainly not a bad thing! I LOVE movies that make me feel, that stay in my head and gut for weeks and, honey, that's "The Hours." I had read Cunningham's book prior to seeing the film and I highly suggest everyone do this. The story is a joint venture. The book is superb in ways, the movie superb in different ways. But, either way, what a work of art! The acting (somebody PLEASE give Julianne Moore an Oscar already!), the writing, editing, and the haunting score were all top-notch. Yes, you will be depressed if you see "The Hours," particularly if you are suffering from depression. It was not in my best interest to view the film while I was going through a bad spell but, hey, I'm not too smart at times. Still, I've gotta rank "The Hours" in my top three of favorite films. I can't wait for the DVD.
Rating:
Summary: This is a movie you MUST see. It will become a classic.
Review: Real Lives, Real feelings. This is a movie that leaves you truly thinking of moments...not hours....truly the MOMENTS in your life. If you see nothing else this year...GO SEE "THE HOURS". If you are intellectual and caring then go see it. This is a movie that a thoughtful and deep thinking person will absolutely love. It is not for the bigots or shallow people of the world. All I can say is WOW...what a movie!! This will be a classic that many generations will look at. Virginia Wolfe will be forever etched in our mind. Read all her books, you won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: Intense
Review: I went to this movie knowing that it was going to be rather intense but it hit harder than I expected. This isn't a bad thing but it was a surprise. The 3 stories are interwoven beautifully, with little or no jarring when moving from one to the other. In fact, I really liked the way the film transitioned. The acting is exceptional but I took 1 star off for the story itself being rather hard to follow. I got the feeling that I should have read the book first or at least known the history of Virginia Woolf and her book "Mrs. Dalloway". The research I did after seeing the movie cleared up some of the questions I had. I've heard some negative reviews based on the homosexuality portrayed in the movie. It's sad that people would focus on that instead of just accepting it as part of the story. It's not a "gay" or "straight" film but the portrayal of 3 women who's lives are not what most would consider typical.
Rating:
Summary: hello freelancing???????
Review: ...I thought it was the most beautiful piece of cinema i've seen in a while, not that i don't disagree with some issues. Particularly troubling is the character of Laura Brown, beautifully rendered by Julianne Moore. Laura was mentally sick. period. No doubt the strictures of her lifestyle added to her demons but judging her decision of abandoning her family to be the only choice she had is misplaced. I feel more sorry for the children that were forced to grow up without a mother than a person whose choices in life to me read individual failing rather than progressive feminism.
Rating: 
Summary: The Hours
Review: I do not have much to say about movie "The Hours". All I will say is that I wasted an hour of my life on watching it in theaters. This movie is short, dull, boring, and its about deeply trouble lesbians. The critics out there must be crazy! They are hailing this movie as best picture of the year! Give me a break! It shocks me to hear that this dull movie has actually been nominated for nine Academy Awards! This movie is terrible. I do NOT recommend you watch it.
Rating:
Summary: Of No Value
Review: A movie with incredible shallow character development. It replicates the view of every misogynist that woman have no meaningful life other than the one driven by their own hormones. If I were a woman (or feminist) I would be insulted by this manic-depressive, "lesbianic", incestuous world that has been created. It offers nothing, makes no point and has no relevance. If acting means extracting all joy from your words and facial mannerisms then the acting was great... if it means more than that it was horrid. What a dog of a movie.
Rating:
Summary: Bring your Lithium...
Review: While this movie is a multi-layered masterpiece, viewers must be warned - you will be depressed. Even if you are the happiest go-lucky person before you walk in, you will feel a malaise when you walk out of the theater. Anyone who is clinically depressed or has thoughts of suicide should not see this movie. Many disturbing themes are interwoven into the story: depression, suicide attempts, suicide, abandonment, sexual identity confusion and persistent loneliness. That being said, the acting is superb and the film is a masterful work and a great movie to study for aspiring filmmakers, actors and directors. Nicole Kidman's role tends to get the most attention due to the prothsetic nose she wears - but all the actors, from the youngest child on up are at the top of their game. In the final months of her life, Virginia Woolf wrote the story of "Mrs. Dalloway," a lonely housefrau who eventually takes her life and surprised everyone... because she did it "for no reason." Her novel reveals much of her inner turmoil - that she is a person that can be understood by no one, not even herself. Her depression so consumes her, that she cannot see clear from it. More than just consistantly mopey, she is almost devoid of any emotions, but when her emotions peak, they are of loneliness and sadness. She experiences guilt for the emotional baggage she has thrown into the lap of her husband and has such a low self-esteem that she lets her housekeepers openly mock her. The film shifts forward and back in time - opening w/ Woolf's suicide, then jumping to 1951, where Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) is a lonley housefrau herself, reading Woolf's novel. The film then moves to 2001 with an equally lonely divorcee, now lesbian, who is such the embodiment of Woolf's depressed character that her best friend refers to her as "Mrs. Dalloway." Ed Harris plays her best friend and ex-lover who is in the final stages of full-blown AIDS. He, too, struggles with loneliness and depression, as most of his so-called friends have abandoned him to his terminal illness. The theme that each person is an island and that we all truly die alone is persistent throughout. Like Woolf (who was sexually abused as a child by her own step brothers), all the principal characters have major sexual identity issues. They do not know whether they are gay, straight or just asexual... and this causes some extremely awkward scenes that will make you squirm in your seat. They all behave as though they do not fit in their own bodies. While they know how to "play the game" to fit in with "normal" society, they are alien to it and play with the though of death as the "great escape" from the prison of what their lives have become. This is a superb film, but it is an experience that is not for the faint of heart. Those who have lost a loved one to suicide will find no solace in this story, and those who are suffering from depression should avoid it altogether. As someone who is not suffering from depression, I walked out of the movie feeling like a wet dish rag. Fans of Kidman, Moore and Streep will not be disappointed. Toni Collette's performance, while brief, is also powerful. This is not a film you just see - it is an experience.
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