Review of Hours (2013) by Rhynal R — 11 Apr 2014

Hours tells the tale of a father stranded in a hospital after the events of hurricane Katrina. There's not much in terms of plot that could be done with such a premise, but admiration can be had for how tense the movie tries to be.

However a lot of the time, it never attains the level of intensity it desires. The movie tries to make up for this by involving violence and some random action sequences but truth be told, the movie would have been better off without them.

Paul Walker (rest his soul), gives the performance of his lifetime as it's mainly him on screen for most of it. While usually he adopts characters that are in action movies, its an interesting turn of events to see him play this emotional character, far less, a emotional father caring after his daughter.

I thought that he might be too stiff but surprisingly he showcased a range of emotions from tears of joy to depression. These scenes are coupled with flashback scenes between him and his wife, who have a lot of chemistry on screen.

He really carries the movie and while the plot never really goes anywhere and has a cliche ending, you stay simply for Walker's amazing performance. He's not going to win an oscar for it, but that doesn't mean you can't appreciate it.

They use actual footage from katrina, which helps the authenticity of the movie, but they never really put it to good use and they never really show you other places so you feel trapped in the hospital for the movie.

Most of the movie is just the emotional journey Walker's character goes through while his daughter's on the incubator. This kind of story either people will like or hate it, depending on what type of movies you like.

For me, who loves story, it was good. Job well done, Mr. Walker. 6.5/10.