Rating: 
Summary: Life as an unfulfilled promise
Review: Exquisite and beautified by four flawless performances, "The Hours" is a period and character study of characters whose lives are, for whatever reason, unfulfilled and made unbearable by inner demons or the fates already pre-determined. Brilliant but tormented author Virginia Woolf's dark novel "Mrs. Dalloway" is the thread that connects the writer's character of 1921 and 1941 to those in 1951 and 2001. Each time frame has its own lead character painfully recognizing and then coming to terms somehow with the anquish and disappointments of their own lifes, and the power of the film is that each character superbly conveys the torment of their lives. Little wonder that Nicole Kidman, truly nearly unrecognizable, copped a richly deserved Best Actress Oscar for her devastating portrayal of the doomed Virginia Woolf. But, if it could have been, Oscars were as worthy for Julianna Moore as the '50s housewife who can't be contented with the facade of family harmony in that sedate decade, and for the incomparable Meryl Streep in her study of the contemporary character whose life seems to be lived as an extension of others. As a lifelong friend of Streep's character, actor Ed Harris delivers an equally painful and stirring performance as a gay man dying of AIDS. Far from being a "feel-good" movie, "The Hours" is an emotional experience for anyone who has hit the point when life doesn't seem to be enough and where the desperation stemming from absolute unhappiness can take us. Though it offers little to feel good about, the film is nonetheless a powerful force that begs the question how much of life each of us needs to be happy. The film's leads are no less powerful in conveying it and then looking for answers, some that, tragically, don't always exist. It's one of the best films of its type.
Rating: 
Summary: Streep Deserved the Oscar
Review: While it took me more than one viewing of this film to understand its focus, I believe that Streep's performance was far better than that of Kidman's who won, by a nose (pun intended)! Kidman's part seemed to consist of a lot of hard to understand mumbling.
Rating:
Summary: brilliant-very very good- great
Review: this movie is great, i've never read anything or seen another movie that captures the mood and atmosphere of depression closer than this movie....just brilliant
that being said; who wants to be entertained with depression? no one really!!! so while this movie may come off as slow and boring, its not, it is very very accurate, i used to not care much for nicole kidman until i saw this film, she is perfect, awesome, i really mean perfect
Rating:
Summary: good
Review: i enjoyed this film, and even a day or two later still thought about it. the performances by the three girls were very good. i don't think nicole k deserved the oscar for hers though. both jm and ms were more deserving, especially ms. worth a rental.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Pretentious and very disconnected
Review: The Hours is supposed to be a three story film where the characters are linked by depression and suicide although they themselves may not be suffering from these ailments but are close to someone who is. The stories are interlaced by these connections and by the book "Mrs Dalloway" by Virginia Woolf who also appears as one the main characters in one of the three stories. Its heavy on despair, misery, hopelessness and death.The movie has some great acting from Meryl Streep but unfortunately the other cast are not really as functional as you would have expected. The movie does go to that next level in makeup effects such as aging, changing a persons face completely and the presentation of an aids victim. Tops marks all round for these effects and costumes but do these things make a film? No, they do not. Stephen Daldry is not a very good director and if you did not like Billy Elliot then you will probably not like this vehicle either. He is an up-and-coming director but his work seems very amateurish as if he is not really conscious about the material at hand and realizing his vision onto the screen. Its ends up with many loose ends and missing connections that should have be made. Nichole Kidmans character of Virginia Woolf ends up saying and doing very little. In most scenes she is just standing around doing or saying nothing. Unfortunately Julianne Moore goes one step beyond Kidmans character by simply walking straight off the set for "Far from Heaven" giving up a double-dose of a helpless woman in despair. The only one of the three that stands out is Meryl Streep and her performance is to be commended. Sadly John C. Reilly is wasted by also saying and doing very little but Ed Harris regrettably overacts his character to the point of killing any realism that he once had. Surprisingly enough the movie ends up not being as moving as what it makes itself out to be. In short this movie is a misfire in a lot of ways and is pretty hollow overall. It is no "Remains of the Day", "Shadowlands", "Magnolia" or "Beaches" if that is what you are expecting.
Rating:
Summary: The Hours (Widescreen Edition)
Review: The night I first watched this movie I had trouble sleeping. My emotions where all over the place and I felt as if someone had taken a large piece of my life and made a movie of it. Desperate - All wanting the truth in their lives but so
frightened to take the step. Flowers - Color, beauty, contrast to the real world. Words - Beauty, conflict, traumer, insight, irrelevance,
deep thought, totally absorbed, live and die
situations. Party - The giving of. Duty - What is a women's duty, children, wife, writter,
cook, cleaner, nurse, lover, or all of the above. Gets less traumic the next time you watch and more enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed viewer
Review: This moving is awful: boring, depressing and pointless! I'm sorry I wasted my time watching it. :(
Rating:
Summary: superficial
Review: There are three interrelated stories in this movie, but each is essentially formulaic and, inevitably, none of them is explored in depth. The result is a series of snapshots which simply do not add up to a satisfying movie. Is there some interrelation between the stories which provides a payoff? Apart from the trite and obvious (time passes and things change) I see none. This is a very disappointing movie, in view of the accolades and high expectations.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT ACTING AND SET UP, BUT STILL MISSING SOMETHING
Review: I can understand why this movie got the "Oscar" for best performing actress, simply because the acting of the three leading ladies are outstanding!, I understand the plot but I still believe this movie was missing something, a high point, something, it just somehow gets kind of lost in monotony. Nicole Kidman is unrecognizable, her make up is great, Julianne Moore has been denied by the award comitee for years, she's a great actress she deserves one already, and Meryl Streep as always saving a play that lack of a true stunning ending, I just lost this movie at the end...
Rating:
Summary: Decisive Hours in the Lives of Three Women
Review: Great acting, music and storyline shifting smoothly within three settings are what makes this unusual film stand out. Three superb actresses shine in leading roles of three tortured women; Nicole Kidman, as author Virginia Woolf (between 1923-1941), hands in a difficult, wonderfully nuanced performance for which she got Oscar and Golden Globe (she said she found the role to be just for her after the divorce with Tom Cruise). Julianne Moore is once again at her most convincing as an unfulfilled 1950's housewife reading Woolf's novel "Mrs. Dalloway". And Meryl Streep plays a publisher preparing a party for her AIDS-stricken friend (a writer who calls her Mrs. Dalloway) in 2001. The viewer gradually discovers more are more things the three have in common, while their stories symbolically entertwine on the cushion wings of haunting music score by Philip Glass. The messages the characters are sending are rather ambiguous, with Kidman's character probably more likely to elicit compassion in spectators than Moore's and Streep's. Director Stephen Daldry ("Billy Elliott") was able to get the best also from other actors, including Toni Collette, John C. Reilly, Jeff Daniels and Claire Danes. Only Ed Harris tries a bit too much as Streep character's friend, his acting here being far from low-key. Nevertheless, Harris was also nominated for an Oscar, as was Moore, and the leading female trio was given a joint prize for best actress at 2003 Berlin Film Festival. Offering a post-modern view on human relationships in an enthralling, mesmerising production, "The Hours" is not a film for everyone, but lovers of good cinema (and acting with capital A) definitely should not miss it.
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