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THE HOURS

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What You Need To Know:

THE HOURS follows the lives of three sets of individuals, from different time periods, all intertwined by author Virginia Woolf and her depressing novel, MRS. DALLOWAY, written in the 1920s. Like Mrs. Woolf, the film's other characters are intense and melancholy, verging on insanity and suicide, wrestling with the "meaning of life," but often finding comfort within homosexual affairs.

Content:

(HHH, HoHoHo, PaPa, PCPC, FeFe, L, VV, SS, A, D, MM) Depressing, hopeless humanist worldview with very strong homosexual worldview elements, some pagan elements and a politically correct, feminist viewpoint; light language with two "f" words and about six other lighter obscenities; violence includes the depiction of two suicides by falling and drowning; depicted sexual immorality includes lesbians kissing and an acceptance of homosexuality; no nudity; a few portrayals of smoking and drinking; and, miscellaneous immorality such as lying to one's spouse, mother abandons her family, twenty-something daughter is disrespectful to mother, and portrayals of mentally distraught women who can't cope with life.

GENRE: Drama

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More Detail:

****WARNING! This movie has a “life is meaningless so let’s kill ourselves” slant, which falls on the “suck the happiness out of your day” scale somewhere between emergency dental work and chronic car problems. So, if you are just too joyful, by all means, continue.

THE HOURS is a movie that follows the lives of three different groups of people in parallel. The first group lives in 1923. The movie introduces viewers to Virginia Woolf, the famous English writer who wrote such notable books as TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, ORLANDO and A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN, well played by a dumpified Nichole Kidman. Mrs. Woolf is going insane. In the process, she writes a book called MRS. DALLOWAY. It’s about a woman who goes about her daily life preparing for a party, yet plans to commit suicide.

The second group consists of a California housewife and mother in 1951. Laura Brown, played by Julianne Moore, is also fighting to keep her grip on reality. She is reading MRS. DOLLOWAY by Virginia Woolf. Her husband is a simple, doting man played by John C. Reilly. She is pregnant and has a small, question-filled son who’s about six, Richie, nicknamed “Bug.”

The third group lives in 2001 New York. There are two women (Meryl Streep and Allison Janney) having a lesbian affair, the daughter of one of the women (Claire Danes), a gay poet (Ed Harris) who is dying of aids, and his ex-gay lover (Jeff Daniels).

Woolf’s novel, MRS. DALLOWAY, ties the groups together. Besides being severely depressed, each woman finds herself strongly attracted to another woman. Each of the women are seen kissing other women at some point in the movie. It is only the “modern” group that is not “stealing” a kiss.

Friendship among women is considered the strongest bond of all. The men in the movie are either gay, or simple and doting. Virginia’s husband, Leonard, heroically tries to protect her from herself and her attempts at suicide, going so far as to move her twice, but even then he is pictured as a strained, dour person.

“Why is everything wrong?” “Everyone thinks they are fine . . . but they aren’t.” “Even crazy people like to be asked.” “Your life is trivial, you are so trivial.” “All your friends are sad.” These are just a handful of the quotes from this “cheerful” movie.

In the end, two people commit suicide (and, possibly, others in the audience just to stop the pain!), and everyone else is left to stumble through the world in their sad little meaningless lives. A secondary theme in the movie is the sentiment, “If you are really a deep thinker, you must be melancholy and borderline suicidal . . . because you UNDERSTAND the true meaningless of life and must suffer lesser humans who don’t.

Solomon, when he was “happily” writing Ecclesiastes, might have liked THE HOURS. “Meaningless, all is vanity.” And the title? It comes from the dying Aids victim, Richard, when he talks about why he is not coming to a party at Clarrisa’s in his honor. He explains, “It’s the hours.” His friend Clarrissa asks, “The hours? What does that mean?” Richard replies, “The hours after the party, when I am back here . . . alone.”

THE HOURS will undoubtedly win numerous awards for direction and acting, but most viewers will be bored to tears, especially if you don’t share the movie’s humanist, homosexual worldview. The secular, politically correct world is enamored with borderline personalities that appear in movies like this where the characters are “too deep” to exist within mainstream society. This is true especially if the characters are feminists feeling oppressed by traditional family life or feminists living on the outskirts of decent society.

Overall, THE HOURS is another sad movie that shouts for mankind’s need for a personal relationship with the Divine Creator through our Savior, Jesus Christ. Ironically, it clearly shows the meaninglessness of a humanist life without God and without Jesus Christ. The only answers it provides to overcome this meaninglessness are personal selfishness at the expense of others, suicide or living for moments of affection or “love.” The problem is, however, that the humanist “love” which the movie offers has nothing to do with the love of God and everything to do with the “love” one finds in immoral, perverted homosexual affairs.

Please address your comments to:

Sherry Lansing, Chairman

Motion Picture Group

Paramount Pictures

A Paramount Communications Company

5555 Melrose Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90038-3197

Phone: (323) 956-5000

Website: www.paramount.com

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.