James Berardinelli 's review touched on many of the things I enjoyed--and disliked--about The Hours. "With superb acting and a complexly structured narrative, The Hours tells the story of three women living in different times and places." I agree with the superb acting--Nicole Kidman proves (are you listening, Theater Arts students?) that nose putty CAN make you a better actor, and Meryl Streep, the Michael Jordan of acting, can either make another actor act better (as in the case of Allison Janney) or make them look like a dropout from the Copacabana School of Dramatic Arts (as in the case of Ed Harris, nobly playing a terminally ill patient, but looking clumsy and out of his league opposite La Streep). Julianne Moore is great, only momentarily eclipsed by Toni Collette, who steals the screen in one single scene.
Never having read either Mrs Dalloway or the Pulitzer Prize winning novel the film is based on (btw, great screenplay from playwright David Hare) I still grew tired of the inconsistency of the narrative style; idiosyncratic narratives work in some films (Run Lola Run, Pulp Fiction, Go), but what Berardinelli describes as "overlapping editing" and the kindly-phrased "complexly structured" story made it hard to focus on the theme that this critic seemed to find more readily than I. Note on the music: how gratifying to finally have another film soundtrack composed by the brilliant and underappreciated Philip Glass! His repetitive melodic motifs suited the unraveling of the characters perfectly. If you like his music, and you haven't checked out Koyaanisqatsi, it's a must!
Note to filmgoers: if you're watching a film in a theater and you're having trouble following the plot, don't loudly ask your companions what's going on, what someone said, or what something means. Give the film a chance to tell its story, and I promise you, most of the time the answers will simply be revealed!
Never having read either Mrs Dalloway or the Pulitzer Prize winning novel the film is based on (btw, great screenplay from playwright David Hare) I still grew tired of the inconsistency of the narrative style; idiosyncratic narratives work in some films (Run Lola Run, Pulp Fiction, Go), but what Berardinelli describes as "overlapping editing" and the kindly-phrased "complexly structured" story made it hard to focus on the theme that this critic seemed to find more readily than I. Note on the music: how gratifying to finally have another film soundtrack composed by the brilliant and underappreciated Philip Glass! His repetitive melodic motifs suited the unraveling of the characters perfectly. If you like his music, and you haven't checked out Koyaanisqatsi, it's a must!
Note to filmgoers: if you're watching a film in a theater and you're having trouble following the plot, don't loudly ask your companions what's going on, what someone said, or what something means. Give the film a chance to tell its story, and I promise you, most of the time the answers will simply be revealed!
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