The Hours (DVD) > Reviews

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The Hours I simply loved this film, it's one of my most favourite movies ever! I've watched it repeatedly since its premiere I went to see to the cinema with my best friend. When we got out, we were both stunned and later she said she didn't know what was supposed to happen after the end of the film, whether we'd start kissing or if the world was just gonna end. I don't mean to be pathetic, but the emotional impression was really deep for ... Read review

Advantages: Three good actresses (though sadly wasted)
Disadvantages: Pretentious garbage

...cutting-edge. 'The Hours', based on the novel by Michael Cunningham (which, I admit to you now, I haven't read), is not one of these films. Stephen Daldry's translation of the novel is a sprawling, unwatchable mess and a waste of three remarkably talented actresses. Perhaps I missed the point of the film, but quite simply this was the most boring, limp, lifeless film I have ever seen. You know the films where you say that they 'sent you to sleep', ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent acting with decent roles for actresses combined with an intriguing plot structure
Disadvantages: A little ponderous at times

...that is more accomplished than the rest - regardless of Kidman being singled out by gaining a Best Actress Oscar. These are three fantastically detailed performances, from three obviously talented women that are only strengthened by a supporting cast that cannot be faulted. Adapted from Michael Cunningham's book of the same name, 'The Hours' is set in three different eras, and charts a momentous day in the life of each of our three central characters. ... Read review

Advantages: Gentle, beautiful, allows you to draw your own conclusions
Disadvantages: The triple-strand story takes a little settling-into

...you avoided this one at the cinema either because you know nothing about the person or the work of Virginia Woolf, or because you found the much-hyped ‘suicide’ theme off-putting…forget all that. Go buy or rent this film. Send the men off to the pub or their reading group or whatever, and sit back and enjoy. It is an unashamedly feminine film. The focus is three completely differently lives of three unrelated women, decades apart. ... Read review

Advantages: Gripping drama that will keep you guessing even after the film has ended
Disadvantages: none

Tonight, I’ve watched the movie “The Hours”; a movie which is deeply affecting - as I reflect on what happened and what did not, in the lives of Virginia Woolf the famous author, “Mrs Dalloway”, her novel, and a series of different people, whose lives seemed to be entwined between early 20th Century Britain and 21st century America. The movie relates the tale of three women and their lives at different times in the past. The first is Virginia Woolf, ... Read review

Advantages: The DVD has endless special features. The acting is spectacular.
Disadvantages: The films ends with a need to know more about what happened; this could be part of the mystery.

...Julianne Moore, arguably three of the most talented actresses to grace our screens at this time, are the central roles to the story. The first scene falls to all three characters, one writing a book, one reading the line she has written 30 years later, and another acting out said line in real life in contemporary day. It shows how one book (Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf) has changed their lives, their spouses' lives and their childrens' lives. Other ... Read review

Advantages: Good storyline, Kidman excellent, strong characters
Disadvantages: A bit confusing but worth the mental exercise

...within Virginia Wood's mind during the 20th century. Very rich, emotional and a worthwhile watch. The main characters are 3 strong women, who have to each battle with unhappy lives - Kidman has to stay alive because of her husband and his expectations, Moore has to stay alive because of her son, Streep is the only one not on suicide watch who actually lives to make her dying husband (Harris) happy in his final days, but she is fairly unhinged nonetheless ... Read review

Advantages: Story and strong performances.
Disadvantages: Slow.

...was regarded as one of the best films of 2002. This film has three stories, spanning over a few decades, dealing with the lives of three women. A woman(Meryl Streep) planning to throw a party for his writer friend who suffers from AIDS in 2001, a pregnant wife awaiting her husband's birthday party in the 1950's and an author named Virginia Woolf writing her novel "the hours" in the 1930's. Its the novel that binds them together, and also their state ... Read review

Advantages: Fantastic story, direction and soundtrack
Disadvantages: Can be hard to follow if you can't commit for the full 2 hours

...in and I found both the characters, soundtrack and story incredibly compelling. The Oscar nominations were deserved. Although the plot in some respects is straight-forward, three woman at three points in time, it is difficult to fully explain what is to happen and how their three lives become intertwined. That said, it is worth devoting an evening to this and making sure there are no distractions, to fully appreciate the atmosphere created by Stephen ... Read review

Advantages: Actresses, Music, Script and atmosphere
Disadvantages: Could be regarded as a "woman's" film but it is more universal than that.

...first fell in love with the book by Michael Cunningham and when I saw who was making the film (the director of Billy Eliot and the recent Kate Winslet winner "The Reader"), I went to see it on screen and then on DVD and was not disappointed It is the winning combination of a great script, Virginia Wolf, sublime actresses (Nicole Kidman won her Oscar for this film), the atmosphere and the music by Philip Glass. I won't give the story away but is ... Read review