Thoughts After Rewatch: The Hours
The second film to get the TAR treatment is Stephen Daldry’s The Hours (2002), or Mrs. Dulloway, as it should’ve been called.
Watching The Hours a year after my last viewing, I learned that this film has a very close relationship with the letter “D”. It’s a depressing drama (quite a downer, really), about death, the novel Mrs. Dalloway and how it affects three women: its suicidal author, Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman), a suicidal woman who reads it (Julianne Moore) and another one who’s basically living it (Meryl Streep).
The good: The film’s strong suit is definitely the acting. Nicole Kidman (who got an Oscar for her role) was very good, but this time it was clearer that the standout was Meryl Streep. Toni Collette and John C. Reilly do a lot with very brief roles. I’ve said before that despite the talent I’m sure he has, Ed Harris never seems to wow me. I have to say though, I’m starting to warm up to him, and a key scene in this movie featuring his character is still as affecting as the first time.
The bad: The character development is a little lacking, and the film is at times unbearably slow and uneventful.
The ugly: Nothing really ugly besides Nicole Kidman’s nose, hehe. Well, yes, but it’s a minor thing. I don’t like the way Julianne Moore cries. She’s a fantastic actress but her crying is so unrealistic. I first noticed this in Magnolia.
Favorite scene: Virginia, suffocated by life in Richmond, wants to return to London. She has a discussion with her husband Leonard at the train station.
Favorite line: “This is my right; it is the right of every human being. I choose not the suffocating anesthetic of the suburbs, but the violent jolt of the Capital, that is my choice. The meanest patient, yes, even the very lowest is allowed some say in the matter of her own prescription. Thereby she defines her humanity. I wish, for your sake, Leonard, I could be happy in this quietness. But if it is a choice between Richmond and death, I choose death.”
You right here, Fernando. I think you need to be in a certain mood to watch this, just as you would to listen to a whole Radiohead album. The Hours is no doubt depressing, although there are some nice moments and good acting, not a great deal happens.
LikeLike
Still need to see this one. Hope it’s not d readful, too, haha. Great post, Fernando!
LikeLike
Hehe, thanks! 🙂 No, it’s not dreadful haha, just very dull.
LikeLike
Favorite line: “I seem to be unravelling,” Meryl Streep as Clarissa Vaughan. It means more in context.
LikeLike
Yes, it does. It’s one of my favorites as well. That’s an amazing scene.
LikeLike
Interesting review, I personally think that the music is fanatastic in the film. I have written a post about movie music and mentioned the hours in it.
LikeLike
Thanks! Yeah, you really can’t go wrong with Phillip Glass, right? He’s one of the greats.
LikeLike
I really like The Hours! I read the book first which probably helped, and I am a fan of Virginia Woolf (I had to study To The Lighthouse at university and have loved her work since then, even though it’s heavy going!). I agree though, the nose is awful!
LikeLike
I mean, it’s not a terrible movie, but it is just so boring! The cast is incredible, though.
LikeLike
It’s kind of amazing that I found all five sections of this review agreeable. Nicole Kidman was so disturbing!
LikeLike
Glad we agree 🙂
LikeLike