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The Hours

Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly and Claire Danes

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RRP £19.99

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Description

An adaptation of the novel by Michael Cunningham, this is the story of three women living in different time periods of the Twentieth Century all linked by a work of literature. In 1923 Virginia Woolf starts to write her novel 'Mrs Dalloway' whilst struggling to cope with depression and mental illness. In 1951 Laura Brown, a dissatisfied housewife contemplates her own life after reading 'Mrs Dalloway'. In 2000 editor, Clarissa Vaughan, struggles to look after her ex-lover, Richard Brown, who is losing his battle with Aids. Richard nicknames her 'Mrs Dalloway'.

The Hours Review

Arriving on these shores with mass critical acclaim and Oscar nominations comes "The Hours." The film takes a post-modern approach of telling a story across three different eras, all based on a literary work by Virginia Woolf (played by Nicole Kidman), whom we see writing the novel "Mrs Dalloway" in one narrative strand. Jumping forward a few years we see pregnant housewife Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) reading the book, whilst in present day New York, Clarissa Vaughn (Meryl Streep) is planning a party for an author friend dying of AIDS.

To summarise the plot of this complex narrative in a few sentences would not do "The Hours" justice, as this is a deeply layered, character-driven film with much going on. However, it comes as a disappointment that what proved to be an imaginative and ambitious idea gradually turns into a dull, dreary drama where very little happens. Too little time is spent with each character, hence you're not involved with their plight and many of the great cast (including John C. Reilly and Bill Paxton) are wasted in superfluous supporting roles. These criticisms aside, the film will no doubt please art-house film fans and literary cinemagoers familiar with Woolf and her work, but for the rest of us humble multiplex types "The Hours" is an unrewarding experience that lives up to its title.

Special Features

Audio commentary from leading actresses Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore
Audio commentary from director Stephen Daldry
'The Mind And Times Of Virginia Woolf': a profile of Virginia Woolf
'The Music Of The Hours' featurette
'The Lives Of Mrs. Dalloway' featurette
'Three Women': a documentary style look at the three main characters of the film with the actresses’ and filmmakers’ insights into how they needed to portray these three remarkable women
Introduction
Storyboards
Theatrical trailer
Interactive menu
Scene access