Based on Michael Cunningham’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “The
Hours” quietly tells the decades-spanning story of three
extraordinary women loosely linked by Virginia Woolf’s influential
1925 novel “Mrs. Dalloway.”
The women, Clarissa Vaughan (13-time Oscar nominee Meryl
Streep), Laura Brown (4-time nominee Julianne Moore) and Woolf
herself (twice-nominated Nicole Kidman), each embody a state of the
novel–Woolf writes it, Brown reads it and Vaughan lives it –as
they battle a single day of depression and emptiness across three
very different time periods.
1n 1923, Woolf begins penning her masterwork under the stress
and confusion of a mental disorder which will eventually compel her
to suicide. In 1951, 10 years after Woolf’s death, Brown reads the
work as she prepares for the birthday of her husband (“Chicago”
nominee John C. Reilly). In 2001, Vaughan appears to live the novel
in her interactions with acclaimed but dying poet Richard (4-time
nominee Ed Harris). Independently, the interwoven instances paint a
bizarre moment in each woman’s life; together, they total up to
detail her 80-year fight for understanding and relief.
Matt’s Take:
13 plus 4 plus 2 plus 1 plus 4 equals… uh… 4 and 3 is 7,
three more makes 10… 14, carry the 1… umm… 24 nominations for
the five major performers alone. Add another three general
nominations in the support (Toni Collette, “The Sixth Sense,” 1,
and Miranda Richardson, “Sleepy Hollow,” 2) and “The Hours” has a
whopping 27 Oscar nods pushing it from behind for acting alone.
Two more for director Stephen Daldry (2000’s “Billy Elliot”),
two from minimalist composer Philip Glass (“Kundun”), four for
costumer Ann Roth (who won for “The English Patient”) and one each
for Best Picture, editor Peter Boyle and screenwriter David Hare
give “The Hours” a grand total–minus the innumerable garnered by
Miramax, studio of independent cinema–38 total Academy Award
nominations, including nine big ones from this year.
Thus, who cares what I think of it? Well, here’s a special
spin:
38 minus nine equals 29 pre-“Hours” nominees. Interestingly
enough, the nominees have only won three awards out of that 29, and
Streep, who isn’t nominated for “The Hours,” won two. We’ll count
her, though. The math’s easier.
29 into 3 is… oh, round it to 30. 30 to 3 is 10 to 1. Yeah,
ok, so out of nine nominations this year, “The Hours,” if you count
Streep, statistically just might win slightly less than one; if you
round it up, one whole Academy Award. There you have it. Assuming
that I can add, there will be one golden statue presented to “The
Hours” on March 23.
For my money, I hope it goes to Ed Harris. Although Streep,
Moore and a nose and wig-wielding Kidman are exceptional, Harris’
portrayal of AIDS-afflicted writer Richard Brown outshines the
three heavy-hitting female leads.
Of almost as high quality, Hare’s stage-style dialogue lights
the screenplay afire with chitchat so strange and difficult that it
is only, but perfectly, suited for Daldry’s talented cast. Moore
and especially Harris run away with Hare’s book-based banter. They
and Hare create a world that screams novelization and masterfully
captures that movie’s “it’s all in Woolf’s book’ mentality.
Keep in mind. This whole thing is assuming “Hours” will just win
one. Don’t worry. It may not be the best film of the year, but it
does feature the best cast reciting the best screenplay cut in the
best possible way. That should count for something at the end of
March.