Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.

SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Paul J. Nemecek The movie The Hours is based on the Pulitzer prize-winning novel by Michael Cunningham. The book is inspired by Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway, and Virginia Woolf is one of the central characters here. Three separate lives in three different places at three different times are all connected by Mrs. Dalloway. Nicole Kidman plays the novelist Virginia Woolf living in Sussex, England in 1941. Julianne Moore plays Laura Brown, a Los Angeles housewife with a loving husband and a young son. Meryl Streep plays Clarissa Vaughn, a N.Y. publisher in 2001. Woolf wrote Mrs. Dalloway, Laura Brown is reading it, and Clarissa Vaughn references it.Roger Ebert characterizes the connections between the three stories when he describes the film as a "meditation on separate episodes linked by a certain sensibility". All three characters feel constrained by social obligation while at the same time experiencing a profound sense of being alone. There are parallels between the characters involving questions of sexual orientation, existential meaning, and ultimately, death. The second and third stories are linked in ways that are not immediately clear, but their connection provides great insights into the deeper meaning of the film. In the end, what really connects their lives is not historical coincidences, but textures and tones.The film is directed by Stephen Daldry who also directed Billy Elliot, a personal favorite of mine. One of the things I like about British films is the emphasis on texture and tone. American films value plot above all else. The complex interweaving of this story and the pacing of the film will be off-putting to filmgoers seeking a steady diet of fast-paced action. It is a tribute to the filmmakers that I left the theater wanting to see the movie again so that I could mine the depths of meaning, and better understand the lives of the characters.If you need additional incentives to motivate you, the film is worth seeing for performances alone. Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep, and Nicole Kidman are some of the great talents working in film. Solid supporting performances are provided by Ed Harris, Claire Danes, and John C. Reilly. Reilly is nominated for best supporting actor for his performance in Chicago, but has the distinction of being in three of the five films nominated for best picture (Chicago, The Hours, and Gangs of New York).Betty Friedan, in writing about the constraining effects of gender roles once wrote that "beneath our masks we are very much alone." This loneliness is explored in intimate detail here. A less profound literary reference comes from the 60's pop duo Chad and Jeremy who sang "I don't care what you say, I won't stay in a world without love." The Hours is not fast-paced and some will dismiss it as a "chick flick", but the film's greatness lies in its probing exploration of the paradoxes of human existence.

Elewis1195 Philip Glass 4 minutes and 33 seconds of my life that I want back. That's how I felt about this movie. 2 hours about what people think when they're thinking depressing thoughts. It was like My Dinner With Andre but without anything interesting to say, and, people talking about their problems.Now, I've read some of the reviews and some people find this movie a refreshing and much needed expression of the difficulties of being a woman dealing with depression and . . . that's fine. I mean, I get that, I really do.But oh my god was I bored watching this, to me, pointless and depressing monotone of a film where nothing happened and nobody smiled. If you liked this film - great. I hated it. It didn't feel like I was watching a movie it felt like I was being punished.I did like Nicole Kidman's fake nose though. That had a certain charm. She looked like the ugly duckling who could be prom queen if she'd just smile, but the coolness of her new appearance didn't last. I'd rather watch chicken little than see this one again.

paulsp2-1 This movie is well out of the usual Hollywood mainstream, in other words it's a film to make you think and concentrate. I won't go into the details as they have already been well covered by other reviews. My only slight negative is the Aids inclusion which is so very Hollywood, especially at this time. Enough to say it contains some really great acting and an amazing score by Philip Glass which is actually a stroke of genius such is the atmosphere it brings to the story. One of the greatest movie score composers, Bernard Hermann once said that a music score either makes or brakes a film and I couldn't agree with him more - in this case his philosophy certainly applies. One of the greats of the past 15 years.

jtaveras64 On the surface this is a masterful work of art, a cinematic achievement of excellence. The smooth cinematography stringed along by its music score is poetically and aesthetically excellent in its own right. The emotionally charged performances, the poetic dialogue, the enigmatic symbolism and the silky contrast between 3 women, 3 time periods, 3 lives stringed along so eloquently, makes this story so simple, yet so powerful. Underneath that beautiful surface, lies the perspective of death, and the meaning of life. The topic of lesbian love, AIDS, the love of literature and fated acts of lives connected. All of this takes places while the concepts of mental illness and physical ailments take place in the lives of 3 women connected by fate, love, despair, duty and death.To call this a film shortchanges the work of cinematic art and poetry in front of us. It is till date, the most brilliant and beautiful film I've seen, and although its theme is demure, its meaning is profound.Signaling one performance is a group of tour de forces is a tough challenge, but Nicole Kidman's Virginia Wolf would break any heart with her undeniable raw portrayal of sadness, loneliness and desperation. Final Grade, A+