Hey folks, Harry here... Seems this cat signed my name to get into an NRG screening of THE HOURS starring a ton of amazing talent. This is a film that many are hoping will be a great dramatic film this year, and from the sounds of it... The only major problem is which amazing actress do you give the award to. Here ya go....
Hey Harry,
Got a review for a movie that your readers probably aren’t all that interested in, but when I saw no one else had posted I thought why the hell not. The Hours, based on a previously written book, stars Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep, Allison Janney, Claire Danes, Ed Harris, John C. Reilly and every other classy actor with any acting chops worth their weight. It’s like an independent movie, but with a giant budget. Phillip Glass did the music. Prolific playwright David Hare wrote the script. And it was directed by the Billy Elliot guy. Test Screening in NYC. Before hand they gave us the card to sign so as not to write to you, so I signed your name instead. Hope you don’t mind. They also gave us the shpiel about how it isn’t finished, could be a few sloppy cuts, blah blah blah, but from what I saw this was a almost complete product.
The Story is about a miserable day in the life of three women in different time periods. Nicole plays Virginia Wolfe, while she is writing her book Mrs. Dalloway in England in the 1920’s. Julianne Moore plays the trapped house wife in LA in the 1950’s, married to the always nice John C Reilly. And Meryl Streep plays the always under control NY book editor in the present day, caring for her sick writer friend, Ed Harris. They are all at a turning point in their lives and are on the brink of crashing down hard. This is not an action packed movie. Each of these women are going through THE HOURS of one day in their lives, perhaps the most important day. And their struggle through it. Their lives interweave in spoilerific ways that I’ll not reveal here. It’s a philosophical idea movie. Not a lot happens. And I liked it.
The acting in this movie is, as expected, phenomenal on everyone’s part. Everyone is a well thought out, intense, character. Everyone stands out in this movie, men and women. Nicole is completely unrecognizable under the makeup job they did. The only reason I knew it was her was because I checked out who she was playing before hand. She takes on a total transformation in body and voice. Everyone gives an oscar caliber performance. This movie is full of oscar moments. Everyone does something amazing in this movie.
The only problem I had with this movie was perhaps how heavy handed it was. The Phillip Glass music was great, but it played throughout and made every moment in the entire movie sound as if it were given equal heavy weight. You are never given a moment to breath as the music makes every single moment intense. Every moment is a matter of life and death. The script is so dramatic, you are never really given a chance to get out from under the pain and misery and laugh for a second. I liken this movie to Schindler’s List. It’s a movie I enjoyed thoroughly, but will never watch again for fear of killing my self. Get what I’m saying? Heavy, heavy stuff.
It’s definitely worth seeing and a departure for many of the people involved. I recommend it highly, however, do not go unless you are in a good enough mood to struggle through it.
Hasta,
Recovering in NY
