"The Hours" is the story of three women searching for more potent, meaningful lives. Each is alive at a different time and place, all are linked by their yearnings and their fears. Their stories intertwine, and finally come together in a surprising, transcendent moment of shared recognition.
A compelling, moving film that respects its audience and its source material.
– Eric Harrison,
Houston Chronicle,
17 Jan 2003
fresh:
The film actually improves on Cunningham's novel, thanks to gorgeous cinematography, a deft script by playwright David Hare ... a mournful, melodious but never intrusive score by Philip Glass and a superb cast.
– Connie Ogle,
Miami Herald,
17 Jan 2003
rotten:
A puzzling and forbidding strangeness.
– Peter Rainer,
New York Magazine/Vulture,
7 Aug 2004
fresh:
A boldly realised, affecting work.
– Derek Adams,
Time Out,
24 Jun 2006
rotten:
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.