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| DIRECTED BY |
| Stephen Daldry
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| STARRING |
| Nicole Kidman |
| Julianne Moore |
| Meryl Streep |
| Stephen Dillane |
| Miranda Richardson |
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Here it is: melodrama at its melodramiest. It seems that the main goal of �The Hours� was to squeeze every possible bit of emotion out of its storyline, and it achieves this goal well, but in achieving this goal the whole film is sent into a never-ending spiral of philosophical and emotional exaggeration.
Sans the thematic elements that it strives so profoundly to develop, the storyline is actually quite intelligent. Writer Michael Cunningham came up with a very intriguing idea in intertwining the life of a revered novelist with the life of a person who�s deeply affected by that novelist�s writings many years later, and then also showing us how time has progressed up to the present-day. But, unfortunately, the ultimate aim of this film is blown so out of proportion that these characters and their situations transcend the point of credence.
As far as the filmic technicalities go, there�s much to admire about �The Hours.� It�s a beautiful piece of cinema to behold �striking and lavish imagery is aplenty. Editing is also very well done; the film flows at a pleasant pace and reveals its main �twist� quite neatly.
But the film is so incessantly depressing that it just becomes tiresome. I do realize that people can be very, very sad for very, very long periods of time, but must they also be so theatrical? Not many of these characters seem particularly genuine when displaying their emotions, but that is in no way the fault of the actors. The script is the true perpetrator here, with its few �ups� and myriad of �downs� � philosophical statements concerning the nature and purpose of death are more believably made when these statements aren�t continually rubbed into our faces.
