Rating: 
Summary: An emotional landscape.
Review: I bought the Special Collector's Edition of Hours and what a stunning package it is. The movie is an emotionally draining experience that works on many levels, acting, especially Nicole Kidman who provides a quite stunning performance, make-up, Ed Harris really does look like he has Aids, sets, fifties Los Angeles with all the cars they had to find and the English countryside looks like the English countryside, costumes, dialogue, music, lighting, it all blends together so perfectly.But what really made this a great buy for me were the extras on this disc. From past experience I find a lot of this stuff on DVDs not really worth watching (and certainly not more than once) but Hours has some fascinating material. The commentaries by director Daldry and novelist Cunningham gave me interesting insights into what they were trying to do with the movie, on screen commentaries by the three leading ladies were equally as interesting. There is an excellent thirty-minute documentary about Virginia Woolf and three other features, which perfectly complements the movie. Composer Philip Glass gets his chance too. So, overall an excellent package that I think will be worth many repeat viewings.
Rating:
Summary: A writer, a reader and a character living in The Hours
Review: A fine cast headed by Nicole Kidman (Virginia Woolf, England, 1941), Julianne Moore (Laura, LA, 1951) and Meryl Streep (Clarissa, NYC, 2001), presents the story adapted from the award-winning book by Michael Cunningham, "The Hours". The story juxtaposes the lives of a writer (Woolf), a reader of her book "Mrs. Dallaway" (Laura) living in an LA suburb in after-WWII times, and a NY book editor (Clarissa), who pretty much goes through an ordinary day in her life, getting set for a party she's going to throw later in the day for her friend Richard (Ed Harris), a poet who's just received an award. As simple as such a plot may strike you, it is a complex one, but a careful editing labor, a passion for storytelling, some outstanding acting and the music by minimalist maestro Philip Glass serve as the thread between the stories of these three women. Complementing an already outstanding film statement, the make-up and the dialogs ring once and again, with Kidman's face virtually hiding away to bring Woolf's back to life, and when you listen to the lines of all the characters taking on a life of their own, almost moving away from Woolf, away from Cunningham... even away from the very adapter, David Hare, as if told by any of us. Because this is a movie not about trauma, or tragedy, or a sad or sorry existential life of a middle-aged woman (or group of women). This story is about our eternal search for happiness, "the choices we make in that search, and their consequences" as the director, Stephen Daldry, so brilliantly put it. A small bit from the lines of Streep, when talking to her daughter Julie, played by Claire Danes:
"It wasn't the beginning... it was happiness. It was the moment, right then!" as if to say, happiness is not a destination, it's the journey that we make every day, while we lead our very ordinary lives, it's in the moments that hide behind the hours, those that we inexorably face. All in all, this movie is now and will be for as long as I can remember it, a classic and a constant reference. Final comment: I don't agree with the comments about another reviewer about the movie being JUST about homosexuality, though there are definite moments where a lesbian side of the characters comes across. If you can't see beyond the fact that some people will just live their lives in a different way than others, and realize that the movie actually does apply to all of us, then you are limiting your life in a very sad way.
Rating:
Summary: amazing performances all around
Review: The Hours is a marvelous exploration of the psychological burdens faced by three women. All three women are alienated from the men in their lives, and all three find emotional and sexual companionship in other women. But one of the ways the movie avoids cliche is that it doesn't depict abusive or neglectful men as the source of these women's alienation -- indeed, the men in their lives are caring, and in the case of Virignia Wolfe's character, deeply concerned about her welfare. The film thus suggests that the pyshological burden faced by women runs deeper and is more complex than we think. The Hours is also an incredibly inspiring, albeit painful, story of how one copes with illness and loss. Meryl Streep's character dedicates herself to caring for her former lover and best friend who has AIDS. Although she pretends to be cheerful as she brings him food and flowers each day, it is clear that she is in denial of the imminence of his death. This denial begins to take its toll on her, culminating in a mental break down in a deeply moving scene fantastically performed by Streep. One of the main messages of the movie is that one has to look life in the face, see it for what it is, face the difficulty head on, and then "put it away" (Meryl Streep's closing line as she turns off the light and goes to bed.) The film is ingenious on many levels, including how it intimately weaves together the lives of women living in three different generations and also in the depth of its messages. One walks away from The Hours with the curious feeling of being heavy from the difficulty of its content yet uplifted by its message.
Rating: 
Summary: Hours
Review: This movie is not worth one star unless you enjoy being tricked into watching a movie about homosexuality and can't possibly figure it out until the very end.Save yourself the pain and avoid this movie at all costs.
Rating: 
Summary: Three Female Icons ¿ kissing other Women!
Review: The Hours is a richly woven tale of three women, living parallel lives decades apart, linked by a book written by Virginia Wolf, who is played deliciously by Nicole Kidman. The storytelling is very clever - and very visual. The dialog is very engaging. But the tale - when swallowed from a man's point of view - is ultimately very unsatisfying. It takes a while to discover this, but all of the women are gay. The characters living in the past (Nicole and Julianne Moore) rail against their husbands, and the society that constrains them. Both try to commit suicide, although only one eventually succeeds. The person living in the present, Meryl Streep, is the only one who is "out." She appears to be the happiest, although her imprisonment comes from the emotional pain she bears while caring for a famous poet -- and former lover -- Ed Harris, who is slowly dying from AIDS. Pruriently, the best parts are definitely the kissing. Julienne Moore kisses her neighbor - who reacts by retreating into oblivion. Nicole grabs the face of her sister (yes, sister) and thrusts her face upon her. The sister resists, but not as though they haven't done this before. Meryl's turn comes towards the end of the movie, and her's is the most reciprocated. She kisses her lover out of passion and thanks, as if to say to us, 'Gee, how surely times have changed!' I thought Nicole looked great with the fake nose, and watching her (as well as the other women) smooch was definitely an unexpected treat. Unfortunately, I wasn't thrilled to endure another work where the men, although loving, end up as inevitable emblems of repression. If, as a guy, one doesn't mind watching a film - while an accusing finger is seemingly pressed against your chest -- the Hours is a masterfully well crafted tale that is movie-making at its very finest.
Rating:
Summary: A Controversial Film of Utter Complexity.
Review: This film was unusual, but touching. It's themes were peculiar and unparalleled, yet enlightening. You may not agree with the ideas expressed regarding the essential aspects of this particular film, however the superb acting, original plot, and emotional impact that this masterpeice will have on you makes this a film worth watching. The artistic nature of the film will make way for deep rational thinking, and ultimately touch your heart.
Rating:
Summary: Melancholia is the only choice
Review: In reading over several of the reviews, I see very little that mentions my major problem with this movie. Perhaps I did not read enough. While Nicole Kidman was defintely at her usual best and was a joy to watch, albeit for the depressing nature of her role, I was disappointed and disgusted to once again feel deceived into seeing this movie. The previews made it sound so wonderful, without ever giving any mention of the bottom-line issue. The story is not simply about three women who are unfulfilled and misunderstood in their lives (to put it in simple terms). The underlying issue is their homosexuality, and their inability to come to terms with their homosexuality within their life circumstances and to be healed of their depression or profound melancholia. Except that is, for Meryl Streep's character who in the end decides to become "who she is". Julianne Moore's character ends up leaving not only her husband but her young son (which later contributed to his demise) in order to fulfill her own longed-for lifestyle. Yes, people have their problems, but to justify these actions by saying that these poor unfortunate women had no support and just could not deal with their problems in any other way, is unfair and derogatory to women. And what about the little boy who later commited suicide? Just an unfortunate casualty of his mother's understandable (but really self-centered) actions, I guess. That is what the movie implied to my husband and me. Yet, while this may be a profound tale of the tragedies of human suffering, we have a distinct dislike for not being told about the homosexuality involved. Perhaps we should have read reviews first, or read about Virgina Woolf first, but we did not and consequently saw this movie with no idea that it had to do with this issue until near the end of the story. I suspect that was deliberate on the part of the writer/director, etc. in order to keep people watching, who may not otherwise do so. We were similarly deceived into watching Far From Heaven, since their was no mention of the husband's homosexuality in the previews. This looks to us like pushing the "homosexuals have to be recognized and accepted (which means agreed with) because they can't help themselves" agenda. And contrary to those who would say we are intolerant, it is not intolerant to disagree with a person's behavior or beliefs. It is intolerant to accuse one of intolerance if he does not agree. When a movie is put out there to advance any agenda, the previews should make the potential viewers aware of what they are going to watch. No matter what the issue is. Then at least the viewer has an informed choice. So, what it all comes down to is that the unfortunate characters had no choice but to act as they did, and the viewer has no choice but to watch the movie uninformed as to its content unless he first does some research. No matter what the movie is about, we were depressed about the depressing poor or lack of choices, that affect not only the characters, but others in their lives also.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully Devastating
Review: This complex and somewhat difficult film explores depression and self-destructiveness by weaving together the stories of three women. In the 1920's, Nicole Kidman plays Virginia Woolf, who, plagued by mental illness yet blessed with a nurturing, devoted husband, begins writing her novel "Mrs. Dalloway". In the late 1940's, Julianne Moore plays a housewife who is at the same time reading "Mrs. Dalloway" and contemplating suicide. In present day, Meryl Streep plays a New York book editor who is caring for her sick and increasingly spiteful friend and former lover. The film deals with an incredible array of difficult issues. Almost all of the characters in the film display some kind of same-sex attraction, which many of them don't seem to know how to deal with (at one point Virginia shares a long and inappropriate kiss with her sister). And all three of the main characters are living on the edge of sanity, desperately trying to cope both with their roles as mothers and caretakers and with their own demons and unfulfilled desires. Although this is at times a very difficult film to watch, it's mostly because the pain and anguish of the characters is just so real, mosty due to the excellent performances by everyone in the film. And while the connection between the women seems initially to be nothing more than "Mrs. Dalloway", toward the end of the film two of the main characters' stories come together in an unexpected and heartbreaking way. Overall, it's a devastating, yet cathartic, film.
Rating: 
Summary: A Moment to Moment Disappointment
Review: Nicole Kidman was the best actress hands down in this ghastly epic but that's not saying much. Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore were positively painful to watch in what can only be described as monumentally underachieving performances. I have seen far better stuff on the Lifetime Network. The music was overblown, relentlessly repetitive in its deceitful cadence that is supposedly alerting the audience to some imminent dramatic climax that never happens. Even poor Richard taking the final exit out of his own squalid apartment window was a quiet mercy instead of a thundering tragedy. Did anybody besides me wonder why tireless devoted Clarissa had not taken it upon herself to get a housekeeper for the poor guy, perhaps an aide to help him into the shower. The waste of the talents of Miranda Richardson, Jeff Daniels, and Claire Danes in their trivialized roles really blew me away. Hope these fine actors were paid well to take a disproportionately distant back seat to Nicole, Julianne, and Meryl. I gave this film two stars instead of a mere one because of the hommage paid to Virginia Wolfe in the brilliant performance by Nicole Kidman. It gives me such high hopes that young people will look up the works of Virginia Wolfe and profit by reading her contributions to English Literature.
Rating:
Summary: A Once in a lifetime film ...
Review: THE HOURS was a life changing film for me. I saw it five times at the cinema. Each time I found it enriching, layered, delicate and beautiful. It features three truly legendary central performances (for me, they should have made three Oscars this year) and a faultless supporting cast (most notably the hypnotically wonderful Toni Collette and phenomenal Stephen Dillane) The script has been paired down impeccably by David Hare from the gorgeous, seemingly 'unfilmable' novel by Michael Cunningham. The direction, creation of imagery, and attention to detail is faultless (thanks to Stephen Daldry's theatrical experience I wonder) Everything about this film is exceptional, from the lines to the costumes to the masterful score. It's elegiac, profound, literate, thought provoking, moving and engaging. Oh, and you'll either get it or you wont. You'll either want to go on the journey with these three remarkable characters, or you'll want to dismiss it as a pretentious literary chick-flick - a criticism I've heard from many a misguided film critic or film goer. For my money, you're missing out on a masterpiece if you choose the latter. I can't say anything else that hasn't been said apart from - see it, devour it, think about it and then - watch it again. The power of this film is it will speak differently to you depending on when you watch it, where you watch it, who you watch it with, and what mood you're in that day. But it was one of the best experiences I have ever had in a cinema to share the company of Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman, and I thank and applaud them and every single individual who brought THE HOURS to life from the bottom of my heart. Just don't ask me what went wrong with the awards at this year's Oscars ... (I loved it so much I've just writen a dissertation on it for my Master's degree! Shameless advert here - but if anyone who loved the film as much as I did would like to email me they would be more than welcome to read it)
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