The Hours (2002)

the leading man is my tpye

Strictly average movie

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Stephen Daldry's "The Hours" is a quiet and deep movie, of unprecedented narrative, that manage to keep us hooked to the stories of three different women, from different eras, at one pivotal day of their respective lives where they contemplate suicide, not directly for one of them.Nicole Kidman is Virginia Woolf, the famous author and feminist pioneer whose depression and mental vulnerabilities turned her to an acute spokesperson of the ennui the female bourgeois underwent from years of repressed passions and repressed responsibilities. Julianne Moore is Laura Brown, a typical suburban housewife of the 50's who would be the embodiment of marital happiness if deep inside, it wasn't just sheer emptiness. She feels a more genuine connection with a coquette and charming neighbor played by Toni Colette, but there's more than lesbian impulses torturing this heart. Finally, Clarissa Vaughan is a woman of the 21st century; she is bisexual, lives with a woman, has a daughter and helps a long-time friend named Richard, an AIDS-stricken poet played by Ed Harris. He's the most complex male character of the film and that he's agonizing with lucid resignation sort of connects him with the female plights.But "The Hours" doesn't try to deliver a feminist statement or any other message about homosexuality; these elements are accessories to the story but not focal points. The real issue is how a woman can feel totally embedded in her life to the point of suffocation, that these feelings, at the most banal occasions of life, can hit like an electric shock and they can't think of anything that is worth being happy for. But the three parallel lives are not without any connection whatsoever, the common thread is Virginia Woolf's celebrated novel, "Mrs. Dellaway", whose protagonist is an upper-class woman named Clarissa like the namesake Vaughan. Now, I didn't read the book, I only got glimpses of the story-line from the writing process during the Woolf's part, its effect on Laura Brown, and the life of Clarissa who represents a modern "Mrs. Dellaway".That I didn't read the book yet could feel what it was about from these meager but insightful hints says a lot about the remarkable construction of "The Hours". It probably kept the key elements of the book and diluted it into the lives of the three protagonists, the central question being death. Woolf knows that her book must feature one for the value of life can't be grasped if one doesn't die. She's an author and like so, doesn't believe in anything gratuitous happening, there must be a reason. Laura is sick of her life but rather than committing the irreparable act, she surrenders to her weakness, her deep love for her son. But later when she reappears, she mentions the premature death of her husband and her second child, and for some reason, there's not one ounce of grief, or guilt. It could be the passing of time, but the reality is that it was destiny showing her mercy and terminating her hellish boredom while she didn't have the guts to do it by itself.This little help of fate is incarnated by the climactic suicide committed by Richard, an act of despair and generosity toward the woman who dedicated so much time for him instead of thinking for herself. Indeed, all through that fateful day, Clarissa was busy preparing a reception for him, either being disconnected to her girlfriend (Alison Janney) or having a nervous breakdown when one of Richard's former friends, a teacher played by Jeff Daniels, comes to visit. Clarissa seems to live by proxy through that constant preoccupation which Richard mercifully terminated by putting an end to his misery. By that moment, we know he was the son of Laura, who was selfishly left in a house so she could go somewhere…. and nowhere, it's like that fateful day instilled something of Woolf's suffering in his life, something that contemplated the passing of time, of hours, with an incapability to find form of happiness. Some kill themselves, some wait for death, some wait for the others to die.There's something of the 'Get busy living' or get busy dying'" in that movie, the idea that not anyone can afford happiness and they must set the example to those who can, it's an act of sacrifice and human generosity. "The Hours" isn't a film for any audience and might easily be deemed as women's movie or artsy intellectual stuff but it says a lot more, that can even appeal to male. Maybe if the film was made today, it would have adopted a militant tonality, but I appreciate that the male characters were rather gentle and understanding people, who couldn't just reach the tortured souls of their wives. There's a failure of communication that men also owe to these years of domination, not that a lot changed in sixty years. When it comes to existential melancholy, some things can't just change.And "The Hours" is served by impeccable performances from Nicole Kidman, unrecognizable as Virginia Woolf, to the poignant vulnerability of Julianne Moore. Streep was nominated for "Adaptation." that year, but I don't know if she would have been nominated for "The Hours" anyway, she was good, but she played her usual vulnerable self, and it's so common from a 2000's standpoint that it surprises less than Kidman and Julianne who still had to hide being the façade of conveniences, they had it harder.And it's not a coincidence that Clarissa was the only one not to contemplate suicide.That might be the light of hope, maybe the ending is a happy now, at least, in the scale of unhappiness that forged women's lives all these years?

Honestly, there is no exclamatory phrase in the tool belt of even a happy-mouthed Guy Fieri that can do justice to how strictly enjoyable The Hours is, especially for it's subject matter. It's basically an infinite recursion of intertextual frame narratives that center on the novel Mrs. Dalloway, which I had not read, but am currently reading...because of this movie.The screenplay is tight, hyper-aware of what it is doing and does so without feeling cumbersome much of the time. There is a particularly perfect spot where Meryl Streep's character discusses 'prescience', which is really the theme of the whole movie, and maybe even of Mrs. Dalloway...more to come on that.Bonus points: Nicole Kidman is unrecognizable, and really ceases to be herself while assuming Virginia Woolf, Phil Glass NAILS it on a score that ebbs and flows with the film's surrendering subjects and there's even a gorgeous scene where a hotel room quickly becomes what may or may not be Julianne Moore's final self-inflicted watery grave.

I am still confused to this day why this would be nominated for Oscars. The acting was okay but it definitely didn't deserve a Best Picture nomination. A suicidal/lesbian film about three women who all have some connection to Mrs. Dalloway, a novel by Virginia Woolf. Nicole Kidman plays Virginia Woolf, the writer of the novel, Mrs. Dalloway, who strangely makes out with a woman who I think might have been her sister. Then she kills herself by drowning herself in a river. Julianne Moore plays Laura Brown, a housewife who randomly makes out with her friend, Toni Colette, who is about to undergo surgery. Laura almost kills herself by overdosing on pills in a hotel room but has a strange dream and does not do so. Meryl Streep plays Clarissa Vaughn, a publisher, who has a friend dying of AIDS. One day she goes to his apartment and he jumps out of a window. She then goes home and makes out with her partner, Allison Janney. I am so angry that i thought this would be good. Netflix gave it 2 stars & I should've taken there advice and stayed away.I HATE THIS MOVIE! DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE!

Why do people kill themselves? That is one of the central questions/themes that THE HOURS explores. Unfolding across three different time periods, this film tells the story of how the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" affects different women who have had to deal with suicide (or suicidal thoughts) in their lives. It stars Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf (who wrote "Mrs. Dalloway"), Julianne Moore as Laura, and Meryl Streep as Clarissa. Virginia Woolf, who has some mental health issues, is mostly confined to a country home with her husband and writes "Mrs. Dalloway" as a way to cope with her situation. Laura is a 1950's suburban housewife who, despite her external appearance, is very unhappy with her boring life. And then there's Clarissa, who is in a committed lesbian relationship and is planning a party for her writer friend Richard, who is also dying of AIDS. All three women have similar stresses and one of the strong points of the film is the way it seamlessly moves between each time period while still telling a unified story. It also deals with some weighty themes that will give you a lot to ponder aside from the key issue of suicide. Among these are social pressures and expectations, selflessness versus selfishness, what makes a person happy, etc. The acting supporting these elements was also top-notch, as would be expected from the outstanding cast, and each of the three lead actresses gets a scene in which to shine. I should also mention Philip Glass' score, which I was actually familiar with prior to seeing the film. I felt like his music was perfectly suited to the material, accurately conveying the sense of isolation, melancholy, and ennui common to all three of the central characters. However, the film's structure is partly its undoing, although not disastrously so. A lot of the dialogue is pretty on-the-nose, and the juxtaposition of scenes basically tells the audience how they should interpret what they're seeing rather than let them figure things out on their own. Still, the repetition of key dialogue from different characters and using match cuts to transition between time periods was an effective way to unify the narrative, as well as provide needed continuity. When it comes down to it, THE HOURS is a very well-made and well-acted film that deals with heavy themes and emotions, even if in a slightly pretentious way. This isn't a film I can see watching that often, if even a second time, but the potential for discussion and/or self-assessment makes this definitely worth seeing.