The Hours (film)

The Hours is a 2002 Academy Award-winning film and Best Picture nominee about three women of different generations and times whose lives are interconnected by Virginia Woolf's novel, Mrs Dalloway. All the action takes place within the span of one day. Nicole Kidman portrays renowned British author Woolf (1923), Julianne Moore plays a troubled housewife in 1951 who is reading the novel and Meryl Streep plays a lesbian book editor in 2001 who is the embodiment of Mrs Dalloway and is coping with a friend dying from AIDS. Miranda Richardson plays Vanessa Bell. Toni Collette, Claire Danes, Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Jeff Daniels and John C. Reilly also star.

The film's screenplay was written by David Hare, based on the Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner Award-winning 1998 novel, The Hours by Michael Cunningham. The film was directed by Stephen Daldry, with a soundtrack by Philip Glass.

One of the most acclaimed films of 2002, The Hours received many awards and award nominations. The movie won the 2003 Golden Globe Best Dramatic Film and received nine Academy Award nominations. Kidman won both the Best Dramatic Actress Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in the film.

Cast & crew

 * Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf
 * Julianne Moore as Laura Brown
 * Meryl Streep as Clarissa Vaughan
 * Stephen Dillane as Leonard Woolf
 * Miranda Richardson as Vanessa Bell
 * George Loftus as Quentin Bell
 * Charley Ramm as Julian Bell
 * Sophie Wyburd as Angelica Bell
 * Lyndsey Marshal as Lottie Hope
 * Linda Bassett as Nelly Boxall
 * Christian Coulson as Ralph Partridge
 * Michael Culkin as Doctor
 * John C. Reilly as Dan Brown
 * Jack Rovello as Richie
 * Toni Collette as Kitty
 * Margo Martindale as Mrs. Latch
 * Colin Stinton as Hotel clerk
 * Ed Harris as Richard Brown
 * Allison Janney as Sally Lester
 * Claire Danes as Julia Vaughan
 * Jeff Daniels as Louis Waters
 * Eileen Atkins as Barbara in the flower shop
 * Carmen De Lavallade as Clarissa's Neighbor
 * Daniel Brocklebank as Rodney
 * Michael Cunningham as Man outside flower shop (uncredited)
 * Kate Super as Young Clarissa Vaughan (uncredited)

Box Office
The Hours received a limited release in both Canada and the USA on December 27, 2002 with a wider release on February 14, 2003 to capitalise on its Oscar nominations success, and its last international release was in Kuwait on November 18, 2003. With an estimated budget of $25,000,000 The Hours was a box office success with a total gross of $41,675,994 in the U.S.A. and Canada and $67,170,078 overseas, making a total of $108,846,072 worldwide, more than four times its budget. It was the 56th highest grossing film of 2002.

Reviews
The Hours was well received by critics and has an 80% "fresh" rating on the prominent critics reviews site Rotten Tomatoes.

The main praise for The Hours came in the form of its acting, specifically for Nicole Kidman, who with a prosthetic nose was barely recognizable in her role as Virginia Woolf. Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote "Ms. Kidman, in a performance of astounding bravery, evokes the savage inner war waged by a brilliant mind against a system of faulty wiring that transmits a searing, crazy static into her brain." Indeed, Kidman went on to win both the Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Actress and Oscar for Best Actress. In both ceremonies she was nominated alongside co-star Julianne Moore, who was nominated for Far From Heaven, while Meryl Streep and Ed Harris received Golden Globe nominations (Streep in the same category as Kidman), and Julianne Moore and Ed Harris received Oscar nominations in the supporting actress and actor categories.

Music

 * See The Hours (soundtrack).

Awards and nominations
Academy Awards:
 * Nominated: Best Picture
 * Win: Best Actress - Nicole Kidman
 * Nominated: Best Supporting Actor - Ed Harris
 * Nominated: Best Supporting Actress - Julianne Moore
 * Nominated: Best Director - Stephen Daldry '''
 * Nominated: Best Adapted Screenplay - David Hare
 * Nominated: Best Costume Design
 * Nominated: Best Editing
 * Nominated: Best Score

Art Directors Guild:
 * Nominated: Excellence in Production Design Award (Contemporary Films)

Berlin International Film Festival:
 * Win: Silver Berlin Bear (Best Actress) - Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, and Julianne Moore
 * Win: Reader Jury of the "Berliner Morgenpost" - Stephen Daldry
 * Nominated: Golden Berlin Bear - Stephen Daldry

Boston Society of Film Critics:
 * Win: Best Supporting Actress - Toni Collette

British Academy Awards:
 * Win: Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music - Philip Glass
 * Win: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Nicole Kidman
 * Nominated: Best Film
 * Nominated: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Meryl Streep
 * Nominated: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Julianne Moore
 * Nominated: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Ed Harris
 * Nominated: David Lean Award for Direction - Stephen Daldry
 * Nominated: Best Screenplay (Adapted) - David Hare
 * Nominated: Best Make Up/Hair
 * Nominated: Best Editing
 * Nominated: Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film

Broadcast Film Critics Association:
 * Nominated: Best Picture
 * Nominated: Best Actress - Nicole Kidman
 * Nominated: Best Acting Ensemble
 * Nominated: Best Composer - Philip Glass

Casting Society of America:
 * Win: Best Casting for Feature Film, Drama - Daniel Swee

Directors Guild of America:
 * Nominated: Best Director - Stephen Daldry

GLAAD Media Awards:
 * Win: Outstanding Film - Wide Release

Golden Globe Awards:
 * Win: Best Picture, Drama
 * Win: Best Actress, Drama - Nicole Kidman
 * Nominated: Best Actress, Drama - Meryl Streep
 * Nominated: Best Supporting Actor - Ed Harris
 * Nominated: Best Director - Stephen Daldry
 * Nominated: Best Original Score - Philip Glass
 * Nominated: Best Screenplay - David Hare

Grammy Awards:
 * Nominated: Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media - Philip Glass

Las Vegas Film Critics Society:
 * Win: Best Actress - Nicole Kidman
 * Win: Best Supporting Actor - John C. Reilly

Los Angeles Film Critics Association:
 * Win: Best Actress - Julianne Moore

National Board of Review:
 * Win: Best Picture

Prestige Academy Awards:
 * Win: Best Film
 * Win: Best Actress - Nicole Kidman
 * Win: Best Supporting Actress - Julianne Moore
 * Win: Best Supporting Actor - Ed Harris
 * Win: Best Actress in a Limited Role - Miranda Richardson
 * Win: Best Adapted Screenplay - David Hare
 * Win: Best Original Score - Philip Glass
 * Win: Best Art Direction/Set Decoration
 * Win: Best Editing - Peter Boyle
 * Nominated: Best Actress - Meryl Streep
 * Nominated: Best Director - Stephen Daldry
 * Nominated: Best Ensemble Cast Performance
 * Nominated: Best Cinematography
 * Nominated: Best Costume Design
 * Nominated: Best Juvenile Performance - Jack Rovello
 * Nominated: Best Make Up

Screen Actors Guild:
 * Nominated: Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role - Nicole Kidman
 * Nominated: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role - Ed Harris
 * Nominated: Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role - Julianne Moore
 * Nominated: Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture