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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Paramount
Salesrank: 10201
Released: June 24, 2003 |
| Our Price: $3.00 |
| Used Price: $0.50 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
THE HOURS tells the story of three very different individuals who share the feeling that they have been living their lives for someone else. Virginia Woolf (Kidman) lives in a suburb of London in the 1920’s as she struggles to begin writing her first great novel, Mrs. Dalloway, while also attempting to overcome the mental illness that threatens to engulf her. Laura Brown (Moore), a young wife and mother in post-World War II Los Angeles, is just starting to read Mrs. Dalloway, and is so deeply affected by it that she begins to question the life she has chosen for herself. Then, in contemporary New York City, Clarissa Vaughan (Streep) is a modern-day mirror image of Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway as she plans what may be the final party for her friend and former lover, Richard (Harris), who is dying of AIDS.
Description of The Hours:
Delicate and hypnotic, The Hours interweaves three stories with remarkable skill: in the 1920s Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) grapples with her inner demons and slowly works on her novel Mrs. Dalloway; in 1949 housewife Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) feels her own destructive impulses; and in 1999 book editor Clarissa Vaughn (Meryl Streep)--much like the title character of Woolf's novel--prepares to throw a party, in honor of her dearest friend, a seriously ill poet (Ed Harris). Small details reverberate from story to story as a powerhouse cast (including Allison Janney, Toni Collette, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, John C. Reilly, Stephen Dillane, and Miranda Richardson) gives subtle and beautifully modulated performances. In the hands of director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot), The Hours is almost more a piece of music than a story, and like music, it may move you in unexpected ways. --Bret Fetzer
The Hours Reviews:
Depressing 
2008-10-01 - I bought The Hours for cheap, so I was impressed, and for once, ended up watching it within a couple of days of buying - not something I do often, judging by my "to watch" pile!
I always watch the trailers first on the DVD, if they're available. Some people disagree with this. Personally, I like doing it. Plus, I like watching the "coming soon" trailers too - it always gives me an idea as to what DVDs to add to my wishlist etc.
I watched The Hours with my Dad, and actually had to WAKE him up at the end - now he never falls asleep at movies. I do. What is The Hours about? Three women, with very little lives, and feeling trapped at every turn. Yes, there are also women kissing in this movie, for the guys - and girls I guess.
I didn't identify with any of the women, I found the film quite dull, and uninteresting. It had so much promise. And I couldn't handle watching Ed Harris in his role - normally I love him too!
I wouldn't recommend this movie - maybe it's because I haven't read the book, I don't know. I'd be interested in reading the book, perhaps, but I still have quite a few books on my "to read" list. (Stop buying books and DVDs!) I'll still keep the DVD - after all it was only cheap, and if I ever read the book, I might give it another try again.
The hours.... 
2008-08-09 - What an awful, awful movie! Flitting through 3 lives, we discover 3 miserable people. No reason for this movie but to waste an hour and a half. The potential of these actors together would have been awesome but they were wasted on a trash movie.
Confused Mess of a movie
2008-07-25 - I looked forward with anticipation to watching this movie after I saw a trailer for it. I was greatly disappointed with it. Jumping between 4-5 time frames to women who you didn't know what their basic malfunction was made the movie very hard to understand. I had no clue until the credits were rolling that the one lady was supposed to be Virginia Wolfe, probably because I missed the clues. But why these woment were depressed, who was Richard and why was he in the one woman's life(Streep), were never answered. All in all it was not entertaining. Maybe if you have a degree in literature it might have made more sense, but as someone who has never read Virginia Wolfe's work (nor do I care to) it was a senseless and boring movie. My copy is going out the the thrift store. Maybe someone else will enjoy it. I'm just glad we got it cheap at a library sale as I would have hated to pay full price for it.
A beautiful and unforgettable film 
2008-07-01 - This movie unforgettable and each time I watch it I find something new that make me look at life and relationships and death. The cast is first-rate, from Steep, Moore and Kidman to the smallest of roles.
The acting, the writing, the editing and the music are all excellent. The extra features are first-rate as well.
This film is one of the top ten movies I have ever seen. I can watch it again and again.
As fun as being smashed in the kidneys with a hammer
2008-06-10 - Perhaps I am biased in that I wish Virginia Woolf was still alive so I could run her over in my car. Twice. But aside from the fact that this film was based on that repulsive stain on literature that is Woolf, it was still horrendous. All the characters are so uninteresting that you want them to die within the first 10 minutes just so something exciting will happen. Kidman looks likes she's suffering severe constipation for most of the film, although that may just be the fact that she's playing such a ridiculously boring character that she has no choice but to try and add some personality. If you have the choice between seeing this film or running face first into a wall, pucker up and plant a big one on that slab of concrete, because your head will hurt less than sitting through this crapfest. I hate Virginia Woolf.
