The Hours Review
by Jerry Saravia (faust668 AT aol DOT com)April 15th, 2003
THE HOURS (2002)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
April 14, 2003
RATING: Four stars
Watching "The Hours" reminded me of a 1996 HBO film called "If These Walls Could Talk," which focused on three different women in three different timelines - all bound by a story thread involving abortion. "The Hours" works in similar ways but it is also far more hypnotic and moving, involving lesbianism in subtle, amusing and highly charged ways.
The common thread in "The Hours" is not abortion - it is Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway." In England, 1921, we see Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) writing the novel of "Mrs. Dalloway" - a novel, as she describes, of a woman who gives parties all her life and then kills herself for no clearly discernible reason. Woolf lives with her husband, Leonard (Stephen Dillane), a publisher, in a home outside of London. She is not happy living in the country - she was happiest in London. Her household staff is not receptive to Virginia's demands, particularly in the kitchen when it comes to food ingredients like ginger that can only be purchased in London.
Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) is the housewife in a 1950's setting, married to a hard-working, pleasant man (John C. Reilly). They have a devoted son who is deeply concerned with his mother's moods. Laura tries to bake a birthday cake for her husband, then bakes another one, and then takes her son to a babysitter. She wants to kill herself (using Woolf's book as an inspiration) since she feels her life has been wasted in trying to appease a man she met and fall in love with at first glance. A sick friend of hers (sparklingly played by Toni Collette) suggests Laura's bisexual side.
Then there is the modern setting in New York City 2001 with Clarissa (Meryl Streep), referred to as Mrs. Dalloway by her HIV author/ex-husband, Richard (Ed Harris), whose own life is in question as she ponders the meaning of her existence. She gives parties galore, buys flowers for Richard, and has a lasting relationship with her lover, Sally (Allison Janney). Without Richard, though, will she recognize what she does not have? Can she live without Richard, and can Richard live on without Clarissa?
"The Hours" is like a poetic fusion of images and events inextricably linked by two factors: Philip Glass's overpowering music and the novel "Mrs. Dalloway." Rather than telling the three stories in separate one-acts, the movie decides to link them together through cursory moments and actions. Virginia Woolf begins her day with a cigarrette and the first sentence of her new novel, as she ponders over and over again the significance of the sentence. Then we see a modern Mrs. Dalloway getting up from bed, buying flowers and discussing preparations for the party. Laura Brown begins her day making a cake for her husband while reading the book "Mrs. Dalloway." The music pounds with real verve and weight, leading to some inevitable climax through sheer repetition of musical chords - where can this all lead to? I was reminded of "Magnolia," which was also like an operatic symphony of emotions ready to burst with catastrophic fireworks.
All the performances are master classes in acting. Meryl Streep has surprised me in 2002 with her deft wit in "Adaptation" and surprised me even more with her role here, exuding all the required emotions that the character might otherwise have kept in check. Ed Harris is at his most potent since "Pollock," generating all the pathos of an emotionally tortured writer barely able to make it on his feet from day to day. Nicole Kidman's portrayal of Virginia is one-of-a-kind, showing us a frail creature looking to fulfill her need for love - a need that isn't quite met by her husband. It is an entirely physical performance and one of the most astonishing transformations I've seen by any actor in a while - by the end of the film, you'll believe you witnessed a real, full-blooded Virginia Woolf. Julianne Moore is another actress synonymous with astonishment. Her Laura Brown is unlike the sweet-tempered woman of the 50's she played in "Far From Heaven" - she is a suffering soul who once again needs real love, something which her husband also fails to give her. The difference is that Laura gets to act on her feelings.
"The Hours" is like a symphony of emotions, nicely orchestrated by avante-garde composer's Philip Glass enveloping, supple music score. To describe "The Hours" in more depth is to take away its air of mystery and aura about women's lives in the 20th century. It is films like this that are fitting reminders of what cinema can be.
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