The movie The Hours is based on the Pulitzer prize-winning novel by Michael Cunningham. The book is inspired by Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway, and Virginia Woolf is one of the central characters here. Three separate lives in three different places at three different times are all connected by Mrs. Dalloway. Nicole Kidman plays the novelist Virginia Woolf living in Sussex, England in 1941. Julianne Moore plays Laura Brown, a Los Angeles housewife with a loving husband and a young son. Meryl Streep plays Clarissa Vaughn, a N.Y. publisher in 2001. Woolf wrote Mrs. Dalloway, Laura Brown is reading it, and Clarissa Vaughn references it.Roger Ebert characterizes the connections between the three stories when he describes the film as a "meditation on separate episodes linked by a certain sensibility". All three characters feel constrained by social obligation while at the same time experiencing a profound sense of being alone. There are parallels between the characters involving questions of sexual orientation, existential meaning, and ultimately, death. The second and third stories are linked in ways that are not immediately clear, but their connection provides great insights into the deeper meaning of the film. In the end, what really connects their lives is not historical coincidences, but textures and tones.The film is directed by Stephen Daldry who also directed Billy Elliot, a personal favorite of mine. One of the things I like about British films is the emphasis on texture and tone. American films value plot above all else. The complex interweaving of this story and the pacing of the film will be off-putting to filmgoers seeking a steady diet of fast-paced action. It is a tribute to the filmmakers that I left the theater wanting to see the movie again so that I could mine the depths of meaning, and better understand the lives of the characters.If you need additional incentives to motivate you, the film is worth seeing for performances alone. Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep, and Nicole Kidman are some of the great talents working in film. Solid supporting performances are provided by Ed Harris, Claire Danes, and John C. Reilly. Reilly is nominated for best supporting actor for his performance in Chicago, but has the distinction of being in three of the five films nominated for best picture (Chicago, The Hours, and Gangs of New York).Betty Friedan, in writing about the constraining effects of gender roles once wrote that "beneath our masks we are very much alone." This loneliness is explored in intimate detail here. A less profound literary reference comes from the 60's pop duo Chad and Jeremy who sang "I don't care what you say, I won't stay in a world without love." The Hours is not fast-paced and some will dismiss it as a "chick flick", but the film's greatness lies in its probing exploration of the paradoxes of human existence.

Philip Glass 4 minutes and 33 seconds of my life that I want back. That's how I felt about this movie. 2 hours about what people think when they're thinking depressing thoughts. It was like My Dinner With Andre but without anything interesting to say, and, people talking about their problems.Now, I've read some of the reviews and some people find this movie a refreshing and much needed expression of the difficulties of being a woman dealing with depression and . . . that's fine. I mean, I get that, I really do.But oh my god was I bored watching this, to me, pointless and depressing monotone of a film where nothing happened and nobody smiled. If you liked this film - great. I hated it. It didn't feel like I was watching a movie it felt like I was being punished.I did like Nicole Kidman's fake nose though. That had a certain charm. She looked like the ugly duckling who could be prom queen if she'd just smile, but the coolness of her new appearance didn't last. I'd rather watch chicken little than see this one again.

This movie, and the timing in which it came out, were just right to make an impact on my life. I was 22 when this was released and came out on VHS. I literally wore out the VHS tape because I watched it so often.I distinctly remember my gut reactions to this movie - especially to Clarissa's story line at the end. I felt that this movie was a truly interesting look at depression. It kind of makes you feel like: "snap out of it" at first. You get 3 different glances at three different female lives and at the beginning of the film it looks like all of them have pretty nice lives. It is also starkly obvious that none of them are happy in their "nice lives." This interests me particularly because the devastation is often pushed on to the depressed by those around them. It is very easy to think, or to say to them: "you have a good life. why can't you be happy?" The movie does not really address this for us. It does not tell us why they cannot be happy and I believe that is because each of these women wonder that a bit themselves - even to the extent of feeling some guilt about it. As each story unfolds it becomes obvious that their happiness or unhappiness is out of their control. Virginia has obviously battled her demons for most of her life and both her and her loved ones are close to the end of what they can bear. The first thing we see is Virginia's suicide, so you are warned very early that this movie is not going to be a gentle ride.Laura Brown was the most frustrating character to me personally. You can tell from the first glance of her that she's depressed. Her poor husband and child that both try so hard to connect with her but just cannot... and I felt so deeply for her little boy. It is obvious he knows something is wrong but also that he cannot fix it for her. It's a hard situation to watch. It's so important, though. Having a wonderful husband, children, a nice home... none of these things guarantee happiness.Clarissa is the character I sympathize with. She is longing for days past and is weighed down by her past - the things she she wishes she could return to and the opportunities she feels she missed. What I see as the watcher, though, is that maybe her expectations for herself and her life were just a little too high. I think this is an emotional place where many women find themselves.Here's my major spoiler - just a warning.The scene in which Richard commits suicide is so perfectly done. Meryl Streep's expression will stay with me forever. My husband accidentally sat down for the last half of of this movie a few days ago and I warned him: the end get rough. He just looked at me like that was silly. But when the end came, he was speechless. lol Many movies that touch on depression almost make my depression worse but this movie never has. I feel amazingly understood by the way this movie was handled.End game, it is a very well done movie. It's probably not the type of movie you want to show at a party, and I wouldn't say it's a really relaxing watch, but if you want to understand depression or want to feel that someone understands yours, hopefully this movie will help you too.

OK, but not great. Takes a while to get going, is filled with superficial melodrama and ultimately isn't overly profound. Still, the Meryl Streep-Ed Harris storyline is quite moving, and makes the movie worth watching.I am not a Nicole Kidman fan, and this movie didn't change that. I always found her characters so prissy and pretentious, and this was no exception. She certainly didn't deserve her Best Actress Oscar (though there wasn't much competition in the 2003 Oscar year). Ed Harris and Julianne Moore got Supporting Actor/Actress nominations for their performances, and Harris' nomination was well deserved (he lost out to Chris Cooper, in Adaptation). Meryl Streep should have at least gotten a nomination for her performance.