Customer Reviews
Depressing, dull and questionable. - By: Ron Labbatt, 31 Aug 2008 
The attempt at justifying the dumping of a child at a hotel is a particular low pointin this film, which -for me- drags dreadfully. My only sympathy lay with the chap who (forced by circumstances, it appears) jumps out of a window - seemingly a victim of fortune, the other actors/actresses & the author.
I noticed that one 5-star review referred to the emphasis on every action - including the quality of the actingin even basic activities like turning off a light. Maybe it's a sad reflection on myself that I'm not impressed by such details, nor by the time-shifting & mingling of a range of character traits. The attempt is to make links between a range of women, but they are all negative, depressing links - offering no glimmer of hope. Why is the viewer supposed to feel empathy for these characters?
From the range of positive reviews this film receives, I can only assume that my opinions are not held by most of the other reviewers. That's fair enough, but there is a rather unpleasant undercurrent with many of those reviews - whereby, if you don't agree with them, you're considered unworthy to make comments of your own. My first review was removed by Amazon following abusive personal comments made by people who had clearly enjoyed the film & yet were unable to defend its credibility. How many other one star reviews been removed to improve the star rating for this film?
"Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself." - By: Nicholas Casley, 05 Mar 2008 
"Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself". From this opening line of Virginia Woolf's novel of the same name, this marvellous movie blossoms. It is the story of three women whose lives are affectedin some way by this line: Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) writes the line at her Richmond homein 1926; Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) reads the linein 1951 suburban Los Angeles; & Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep) acts out the linein 2001 Manhattan. These are all highly-nuanced performances, betraying the fleetest of thoughts & emotionsin silent actions. Stephen Dillane is a totally believable hard-pressed Leonard Woolf, whilst Miranda Richardson is Virginia's sympathetic but ultimately distant sister. Even Eileen Atkins plays a cameo as a Manhattan florist.
The film is full of the everyday, & that is both its charm & its story, as similar actions - combing hair, turning off lights - are undertaken by these three women across space & time. But there is also a persistent presence of underlying tragedy. The links between the three women are deep & wide-ranging: food & eating, mental health, women kissing women, reading/writing/being Mrs Dalloway, attempted suicides, guests arriving early. The parallels & interweaving between the three lives are innumerable. All three are repressing major aspects of their inner selves - passions denied, or loves lost - that resultin stifling atmospheres & imprisoned souls.
If I had to choose a favourite scene, it is of Meryl Streep, preparing foodin her kitchen, trying to cope with the pressures of her life whilst also trying to make pleasant smalltalk with her ex-boyfriend's ex-boyfriend, Jeff Daniels playing the self-infatuated gay man to a tee.
No, instead I choose Julianne Moore waving goodbye to her young son, who intuitively knows that something is wrong & screams tears at the thought that his mother might reject him. The shock of the grown-up Richard leaving through the high-rise window is long-prepared but is a sharp jolt all the same. The subsequent cut to Richard again as a child only heightens the sense of tragedy.
No, no, instead I choose the final scene of Nicole Kidman, slowly but determinedly giving her life to the river's waves, whilst reciting the message she has left for her husband: "To look lifein the face, & to know it for what it is, to love it for what it is & then to put it away. Always the years, always the love, always the hours."
You see how this film is an embarrassment of riches, so full of marvellous acting, brilliant directing & editing, & superb writing? There is only one false moment, & that is the station scene between Virginia & Leonard Woolf. It appeared out of character for Leonard to shout outin public the problem of his wife's mental health, but the subsequent rapprochement between them is very moving: "You cannot find peace by avoiding life, Leonard."
The film's ending is a tour-de-force. As she writes her novel "Mrs Dalloway", Virginia provides the key to the film's message: "Someone has to die so that the rest of us value life more ... the poet will die, the visionary." This is mirrored by Julianne Moore's character who, having abandoned her family, reflects that her former life "was death. I chose life." This sounds all so depressing, but it is Meryl Streep's character who betrays this lie, forin the face of her tragedy - the party for which she has laboured so much, has had to be cancelled - what happens, but that she is silently comforted by the people who love her & live for her. Virginia Woolf is right: someone does have to die for the rest of us to value life all the more. Some call it maudlin, but I found this a moving & passionately positive ending.
Some critics have derided Philip Glass's score as too sentimental. For me, its perpetual & insistent pulses & rhythms, broken by spasms of pianistic lyricism, is one reason for the success of the film. The music's texture speaks volumes about the everyday nature of these three women's reality, whilst giving intimations of the tragedies to come. In the accompanying DVD commentary, Meryl Streep says that, "the music starts you on a journey & carries you through fluently to the end." It is great to see that the importance of the soundtrack is celebrated by there being a seven-minute feature on the music of the film as one of the extras.
A few words about the other extras on my DVD. There are two commentaries. That by the three leading ladies shows their intelligence & insight, as they each relate how they approached their roles, interpreted them & played them; how they became involvedin the project; & how they interacted with its production. For example, Nicole Kidman had to learn how to write with the right hand; Julianne Moore explains how her character is more into her book ("Mrs Dalloway") than into her life, & this is how she wants to be; whilst Meryl Streep observes how "so many sections of the film are like one-act plays."
The other commentary is learned & literary & is by the director Stephen Daldry & by the author of the book Michael Cunningham (and NOT as advertised by David Hare, who wrote the screenplay). There are some interesting comments. Stephen Daldry comments on how "the experience of life is an experience of loss." Michael Cunningham observes how through film (as opposed to the novel) you lose the benefit of seeing into people's minds, but that what you gain is suggested by, for example, watching Meryl Streep's character separating eggs. From the way that this task is performed, you know exactly what kind of a person she is. Cunningham is an engaging character, playfully commenting that the film "is a hugely successful movie about people [just] reading a book", & that he must be the only living novelist who is happy with the film adaptation of his own book.
Other extras consist of a ten-minute feature on how the novel was conceived, written & transformed for the screen; a sixteen-minute piece on the casting of the three women; & a 25-minute documentary called The Mind & Times of Virginia Woolf, narrated by Eileen Atkins.
so - so - By: Emily Harwood, 11 Jan 2008 
When you first see this film, it blitzes you. There's so much talent on the screen, & they're all at the top of their game, so it's easy to get confuse into thinking this is a great film. It's not. It creaks all over the place & there are too many archetype wandering around this film rather than real character. It betrays its roots as a bookin that regard.
Worth 3 stars to see Julianne Moore, an actress who i think future eras will see as one of our very best. Far from Heaven & Safe are her best, I think, but this is still top top stuff...
Unfortunate title.... - By: Al, 03 Jun 2007 
Pretentious, over-wrought twaddle. A middling sixth-form english student could probably script something similarly profound & tragicin tone, but of course no one would actually be foolish enough to waste money filming their efforts. The backers of this movie should have been similarly frugal.
I hate to be so negative...it's true that the movie does have some redeeming features, not leastin a few of the performances, but the dialogue is so tortured. Whatever happened to black humour?? All of the central characters are clearly mature & intelligent individuals, but sadly this does not prevent them from communicating like a bunch of angst-ridden teenagers trying to sound sophisticatedin their suffering.
Virginia Woolfe isn't my favourite writer by any means, but her sharp intelligence, wit & fascination for narrative innovation would surely have led her to depise anything as desultory & uninspired as this. The triple story-line is not original or clever - it's just a gimmick, & it adds nothing worthwhile to our understanding of any of the characters. What's more, I think the whole thing trivialises both the suicidal mindset (by not making any genuine attempt to understand it) & terminal illness (i.e.in the Ed Harris character, none of whose scenes I found convincing). This was AIDS & suicide, hollywood style...
As for the title, it IS unfortunate. Sardonic comments are hard to avoid, particularly as the film is only 1 hour 55 minutes long. To me, sitting through this trashin the cinema definitely felt like "hours"in the plural...
My favourite film of all time - By: Aesop, 28 May 2007 The reason why: It is thought-provoking, its story structure--amazingly original----its greatest credit for me was that it drastically altered my outlook on life & death, essentially it provoked me to think about the meaning of life. A spectacular film at its most profound levels respecting & celebrating life---illustrating the parallels between human life & great art, & how the two reflect each other.
It made a philosopher out of me, I hope it will change the way you see life too.
