Movie Review The Hours

The Hours (2002) 

Directed by Stephen Daldry 

Written by David Hare 

Starring Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Ed Harris, Toni Collette, Claire Danes 

Release Date December 25th, 2002 

Published December 29th, 2002 

One of the first things I wrote when I started writing for this site was a column lamenting the lack of good roles for women. At that time, the majority of lead roles for women were still in service to male characters. However, in the second half of 2002, something happened and the trend began to reverse. Strong roles for women like those featured in The Good Girl, White Oleander and Secretary showed great progress. Now, with Stephen Daldry's The Hours, we have not one great role for a woman, but three: Three sensational roles for three sensational actresses in one excellent movie.

Three women over three generations are united by one book written by one of the characters. That character was a real person, writer Virginia Woolf, played by Nicole Kidman. Her book, "Mrs Dalloway," is read by both Julianne Moore's 1950's housewife Laura Brown and Meryl Streep's modern day Clarissa Vaughn.

Laura Brown is a troubled housewife whose troubles are written on her face. Her every action seems slowed by depression. Everything, including her interaction with her young son, seems to be affected by her depression. After seeing her husband off to work, a neighbor played by Toni Collette stops by for a visit that shows Laura what life might have been or what Laura really wanted in her life. The scene illustrates Laura's connection to the book "Mrs. Dalloway" as it demonstrates the dilemma that also haunted Virginia Woolf's literary creation--choosing the safe route of marriage over the adventurous life with a lover.

In the modern story, Meryl Streep's Clarissa Vaughn is planning a party for an ex-lover played by Ed Harris. Now dying of AIDS, Harris' character entertains thoughts of suicide as he comes to realize how close to death he is. He has called Clarissa by the nickname Mrs. Dalloway for years and now, in an ironic twist that mimics the classic book, Clarissa plans a party and her poet friend is planning his death. The characters are aware of the parallels but only Harris' character accepts his fate.

The third story is that of Virginia Woolf played by Kidman. We watch as Woolf, whose mental health problems are well documented, creates her masterpiece "Mrs Dalloway." Forced by her husband to live in a quiet, suburban, England country house, Woolf longs for the lively nature of the city. Attended by doctors on a daily basis, Virginia's only sanctuary lies in her writing. The fate of Virginia Woolf, much like her troubled life, is well known. If you don't know how she died, I will leave the mystery. Her death is dramatized in The Hours in a powerful scene that bookends the film.

In an unusual way, The Hours reminded me of Adaptation, in that a writer writes another writer into his screenplay. Then, the actions of the book are played out in the film and (not literally) the actions of the book unfold onscreen.

Director Stephen Daldry, working from a script by David Hare and the book by Michael Cunningham, creates a film of great emotional and intellectual power. While "Mrs. Dalloway" has been adapted for the screen before, the film shows what a truly special work it is. The film manages to communicate just how powerful and effective the book is without literally translating it. The Hours is a brilliant, remarkable film.