Stephen Daldry

Parts were interesting; the Gordonstoun episode was hilariously overwrought. Matt Smith and Claire Foy are both quite good. Margaret's story is interminable and her snottiness toward her sister, who seems much more the outdoorsy type, really, is unbearable. Ends with a pompous whimper.

The period detail may be misleading, but it is also engrossing.

The best evocation I have seen of the heart-weighting, inexorable undertow of clinical depression and its too-frequent endzone.

A troubled young boy with Asperger's Syndrome, Oskar, is trying to cope with the loss of his father in the World Trade Center on 9/11. Oskar starts lashing out at his mother and the world. Until a year later, he discovers a mysterious key in his father's belongings and embarks on a scavenger hunt to find the matching lock, just as he used to when his father was alive. On this journey he meets a lot of people who are also dealing with loss.
Rated PG-13 for emotional thematic material, some show more disturbing images, and language show less

Not knowing anything about the life of Virginia Woolf, I was lost from the beginning with the time shifting narratives. The dialogue was much too slow to keep my interest. The actresses were subdued (fitting the subject matter), and didn't inspire me.
Wikipedia: The Hours is a 2002 American psychological drama film directed by Stephen Daldry and starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman. Supporting roles are played by Ed Harris, John C. Reilly, Stephen Dillane, Jeff Daniels, show more Miranda Richardson, Allison Janney, Toni Collette, Claire Danes, and Eileen Atkins. The screenplay by David Hare is based on Michael Cunningham's 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. show less