Hours

Theatrical Release Date: 2002 12 27 (USA - Limited) / 2003 01 17 (USA)

UPC: 097360567045

Studio: Paramount

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Adult Situations]

Summary: Three women, separated by a span of nearly 80 years, find themselves weathering similar crises, all linked by a single work of literature in this film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Cunningham. In 1923, Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) is attempting to start work on her novel Mrs. Dalloway, in which she chronicles one day in the life of a troubled woman. But Virginia has demons of her own, and she struggles to overcome the depression and suicidal impulses that have followed her throughout her life, as her husband Leonard (Stephen Dillane) ineffectually tries to help. In 1951, Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) is a housewife living in suburban Los Angeles, where she looks after her son Richie (Jack Rovello) and husband Dan (John C. Reilly). Laura is also an avid reader who is currently making her way through Mrs. Dalloway. The farther she gets into the novel, the more Laura discovers that it reflects a dissatisfaction she feels in her own life, and she finds herself pondering the notion of leaving her life behind. Finally, in 2000, Clarissa Vaughn (Meryl Streep) is a literary editor who is caring for Richard Brown (Ed Harris), a former boyfriend and noted author, who is slowly losing his fight with AIDS. Clarissa is trying to arrange a party to celebrate the fact that Richard has won a prestigious literary award, but is getting little help from Richard's ex-lover, Louis (Jeff Daniels). As she labors to help Richard through another day, he wonders if his life is worth the unending struggle. The Hours also features Toni Collette, Miranda Richardson, Allison Janney, and Claire Danes. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best Actress – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Musical Score (Runner-up) – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Top Ten Movie of the Year – American Film Institute Best Picture – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Actress – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Acting Ensemble – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Composer – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Picture – null Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama – null Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama – null Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – null Best Director – null Best Screenplay – null Best Original Score – null Best Director – Directors Guild of America Best Actress – Screen Actors Guild Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Screen Actors Guild Best Supporting Actress – Screen Actors Guild Best Adapted Screenplay – Writers Guild of America Best Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Costume Design – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Editing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Silver Bear for Best Actress – Berlin International Film Festival Silver Bear for Best Actress – Berlin International Film Festival Silver Bear for Best Actress – Berlin International Film Festival Best Picture – National Board of Review Best Screenplay [Runner-up] – Toronto Film Critics Association Best Picture – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Actress – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Ensemble Acting – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Score – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Screenplay – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Picture – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Supporting Actor – Screen Actors Guild Best Original Score – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Director – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: ccCommentary by Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman
Commentary by director Stephen Daldry and novelist Michael Cunningham
Filmmakers introduction
4 featurettes: Three Women, The Mind and Times of Virginia Woolf, The Music of the Hours, The Lives of Mrs. Dalloway
Theatrical trailer
Full screen version
Dolby Digital: English 5.1 Surround, English Dolby Surround, French
English subtitles

Hours

Format: DVD

Release Date: 06/24/2003

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DDS Dolby Digital Surround

Runtime: 114 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. "The Certainty of Your Goodness"
2. The Hours
3. "I May Have a First Sentence"
4. "Happy Birthday!"
5. "Flowers!"
6. "I'm Staying Alive for You"
7. "This Day of All Days"
8. "To Show Him We Really Love Him"
9. "You're Reading a Book"
10. "Even Crazy People Like to Be Asked"
11. "It's Like Having a Presentiment"
12. "Did You Think I Was Better?"
13. "All I Want to Do Is Just Give a Party"
14. "Richmond or Death"
15. "An Idea of Our Happiness"
16. "I Chose Life"
17. "And Then to Put It Away"

Lucia Bozzola

Boasting all of the elements of a prestigious Hollywood production, The Hours (2002) is that rarity of rarities: a thoughtful studio movie. Adapted from Michael Cunningham's "unadaptable" Pulitzer prize winner, David Hare's literate screenplay succeeds in translating Cunningham's interior-driven novel about a day in the lives of three different women into engaging cinema. Deftly interweaving the stories of writer Virginia Woolf as she struggles to create her 1925 masterpiece Mrs. Dalloway; 1951 reader Laura Brown, who finds solace in Woolf's book; and 2001 editor and Mrs. Dalloway-esque party planner Clarissa, director Stephen Daldry reveals the underlying connections between the disparate women as each realizes that a life of self-abnegation -- whether as mother, wife, patient, or friend -- doesn't guarantee happiness. Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman play their complex, not always sympathetic roles with delicacy and gusto; Kidman, in particular, is a well-costumed revelation as the brilliant, wry, and disturbed Woolf. Though Ed Harris overplays the poetry in his AIDS-stricken scribe, the rest of the supporting cast superbly complements the lead trio. Even Philip Glass's score of his love 'em-or-hate 'em signature triplets and repetitions neatly underpins The Hours' thematic and emotional structure. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Charley Ramm  Actor 
Christian Coulson  Actor 
Colin Stinton  Actor 
George Loftus  Actor 
Carmen de Lavallade  Actor 
Sophie Wyburd  Actor 
Daniel Brocklebank  Actor 
Michael Culkin  Actor 
Lyndsay Marshal  Actor 
Robert Fox  Producer 
Philip Glass  Composer (Music Score) 
David Hare  Screenwriter 
Scott Rudin  Producer 
Mark Huffam  Executive Producer 
Stephen Daldry  Director 
Meryl Streep  Actor 
Julianne Moore  Actor 
Nicole Kidman  Actor 
Ed Harris  Actor 
Toni Collette  Actor 
Claire Danes  Actor 
Jeff Daniels  Actor 
Stephen Dillane  Actor 
Allison Janney  Actor 
John C. Reilly  Actor 
Miranda Richardson  Actor 
Eileen Atkins  Actor 
Margo Martindale  Actor 
Linda Bassett  Actor 
Jack Rovello  Actor 

Country: USA