Review of The Hours (2002) by Ajay P — 06 Feb 2015
Based on the 1998 novel by Michael Cunningham, and directed by Stephen Daldrey (Billy Elliot (2000), The Reader (2008) and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)), this is a compelling drama set over different time periods but all interconnected in a unique way, 2 of the stories are connected by the work of the real life subject in the third.
It's a thoughtful film, and it has a very good cast to it's name. In 1923, Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) writes Mrs Dalloway in her home in the town of Richmond. She has suffered several breakdowns and is bipolar, and she feels like a prisoner in her own home.
In 1951, Los Angeles housewife Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) is married to Dan (John C. Reilly) with son Richie (Jack Rovello), but she is unhappy in her marriage and she finds solace in reading Mrs Dalloway.
In New York in 2001, Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep) lives the life of Mrs. Dalloway, preparing a party in honour of her former lover and friend Richard Brown (Ed Harris), who is dying from AIDS, and is receiving a major literary award, but Richard isn't happy.
It's a bleak film on the surface, all the stories are connected with the theme of suicide, but it's still very compelling, and the trio of actresses on display all give powerful performances, Kidman won the Best Actress Oscar for playing Woolf, but it's a shame her career has taken a downward turn ever since this film.
This review of The Hours (2002) was written by Ajay P on 06 February 2015.
The Hours has generally received very positive reviews.
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