The Hours (2002)
83%RT Audience Score: 84%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
43 wins & 126 nominations total
The movie may be a downer, but it packs an emotional wallop. Some fine acting on display here
The Hours is a movie that will make you feel like you’re in a literature class, but in a good way. It’s like watching a book come to life, and you’ll be so moved that you’ll want to read the book afterwards. Plus, it’s got a killer cast and a beautiful score. Just make sure you have some tissues handy.
Production Company(ies)
Lucasfilm,
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Biltmore Hotel – 1200 Anastasia Avenue, Coral Gables, Florida, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements, some disturbing images and brief language
Year of Release
2003
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 54m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 27, 2002 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 24, 2003
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris, Toni Collette, Claire Danes, directed by Stephen Daldry, written by Michael Cunningham, David Hare, drama, PG-13, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Charlotte O’Sullivan, Nell Minow, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Derek Adams, Jeannette Catsoulis, Peter Rainer, David Reddish, David Walsh, Mike Massie, PJ Nabarro, Patrick Nabarro, Daniel Mendelsohn, Mark Steyn, emotional, women’s stories, yearning, fear, shared recognition, mature thematic elements, brief language, some disturbing images, Scott Rudin, Paramount Pictures, Philip Glass, cinematography, sentimental, unique premise
Worldwide gross: $108,846,072
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $176,425,523
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 766
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 19,239,425
US/Canada gross: $41,675,994
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $67,551,441
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 938
US/Canada opening weekend: $338,622
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $548,863
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,381
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $25,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $40,521,794
Production budget ranking: 951
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $21,820,986
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $114,082,743
ROI to date (est.): 183%
ROI ranking: 670
Julianne Moore – Laura Brown
Nicole Kidman – Virginia Woolf
Ed Harris – Richard
Toni Collette – Kitty
Claire Danes – Julia Vaughan
Director(s)
Stephen Daldry
Writer(s)
Michael Cunningham, David Hare
Producer(s)
Scott Rudin
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
43 wins & 126 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners
All Critics (195) | Top Critics (53) | Fresh (155) | Rotten (40)
It’s a must-see. Mainstream epics routinely privilege the father-son bond… In The Hours, patriarchs barely figure, and the only phallic weapon on display is Virginia’s pen.
November 15, 2017
Charlotte O’Sullivan
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Smart, thoughtful movie for older teens and up.
December 28, 2010 | Rating: 5/5
Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
TOP CRITIC
David Hare’s screen adaptation reduces Woolf and her art to a set of feminist stances and a few plot points, without reference to style or form.
February 11, 2008
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
A boldly realised, affecting work.
June 24, 2006
Derek Adams
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
‘In a sublime collaboration, David Hare and Stephen Daldry have created a delicate atmosphere of inchoate sadness.’
March 22, 2005 | Rating: 4.5/5
Jeannette Catsoulis
Las Vegas Mercury
TOP CRITIC
A puzzling and forbidding strangeness.
August 7, 2004
Peter Rainer
New York Magazine/Vulture
TOP CRITIC
Loaded with rich dialogue, magnificent performances and a delicate score by Philip Glass, The Hours reminds us how movies can touch and reflect our lives. For the characters that embrace love and truth, life offers joy and hope.
March 20, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
David Reddish
Queerty
Self-involved and self-important to a dangerously high degree …
February 16, 2021
David Walsh
World Socialist Web Site
A poignant, mature, satisfying drama and, in many ways, ahead of its time.
September 30, 2020 | Rating: 8/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
The problem with The Hours’ overt literariness is that it makes it a very pleading work; the film wants you to “get it” at every single point of its discourse.
October 31, 2019 | Rating: 2/5
PJ Nabarro
Patrick Nabarro
The Hours is a serious and moving film, one that achieves many of its goals; among other things, it will presumably have many, many more people reading Mrs. Dalloway than Woolf could ever have dreamed of.
August 20, 2018
Daniel Mendelsohn
The New York Review of Books
The effect is much cruder than the book: you’re aware of the geometric patterns linking the parallel stories; everything seems a little too pat, the emblems of the era a little too obviously emblematic – cake-baking in the Fifties, Aids now.
January 30, 2018
Mark Steyn
The Spectator…
Plot
In 1951, Laura Brown (Julianne Moore), a pregnant housewife, is planning a party for her husband, but she can’t stop reading the novel “Mrs. Dalloway”. Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep), a modern woman living in present times is throwing a party for her friend Richard (Ed Harris), a famous author dying of A.I.D.S. These two stories are simultaneously linked to the work and life of Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman), who’s writing the novel mentioned before.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The Hours features a star-studded cast including Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman, and Ed Harris.
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