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HOURS

2002 ***** 114 mins.

Words cannot describe the sheer brilliance of Michael Cunningham's novel, and subsequently, Stephen Daldry's film, The Hours. The book is my favourite novel of all time, and the film is my fourth favourite film of all time. I, honestly, cannot say which is better, the novel or the film. While the novel may have its own strengths, it cannot beat the stunning ways in which this film makes the viewer see the events. The opening sequence (after the prologue) of this film is especially brilliant.

Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway is the focus of this film. In one story, it is 1923 and Virginia Woolf (played by Nicole Kidman in an Oscar-winning performance) is writing the novel. In another story, a woman named Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) is reading the novel. In yet another story, a woman named Clarissa Vaughn (Meryl Streep) is living a modern version of the novel. The stories are all intertwined and the result is a motion picture masterpiece that the world has never seen the likes of.
Number 13 on KRSJR Productions' 25 Greatest Motion Pictures of All Time.
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements, some disturbing images, and brief language.