The Hours is one of the most acclaimed films in the year 2002, and throughout the globe received many awards and award nominations. The movie for its excellence also bagged the 2003 Golden Globe Best Dramatic Film and at the same time received nine Academy Award nominations. Nicole Kidman in the role of Virginia Woolf became the Best Dramatic Actress Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Actress for her momentous portrayal of the role in the very film. The Hours also received a limited release both in Canada and 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. To begin with since it is an adaptation of the very novel, all the aciton in the film The Hours takes place within the span of one day. Nicole Kidman in the film portrays renowned British author Virginia Woolf, Julianne Moore in the role of a troubled housewife in 1951 who is reading the novel and meryl Streep is in the character of a lesbian book editor in the year 2001 who is the embodiment of Mrs Dalloway and is coping with a friend dying from AID. Miranda Richradson is in the role of Vanessa Bell. Besides Toni Collette, Ed Harris, Claire Danes, Allison Janney, Jeff Daniels and John C. Reily also stars. At the very outset it is displayed in The Hours that there is the preence of thre generations pof women who are affected by a novel of Virginia Woolf. The first is Woolf herself writing Mrs. Dalloway in the year 1923 and is at the same time struggling with her own mental illness. The second is Mrs. Brown, the wife of the veteran of the World War II, she is also found to read the same Mrs. Dallowayin the year 1949 and at the same time she is also planning the birthday party of her husband. In this category the third woman is Clarissa Vaughn, who is of an unusual character and also happens tobe a lesbian. She plans a party in the year 2001 for the celebration of a significant literary award received by her good friend and former lover, the poet Richard, who is unfortunately is affceted by AIDS and is dying. It has been depicted in The Hours, that the positins of all three characters' mirror situations experienced by Woolf's Clarissa Dalloway in 'Mrs. Dalloway', with Clarissa Vaughn being a very literal modern-day version of Woolf's character. In the sams style Mrs. Dalloway, Clarissa Vaughn goes on a journey for the sake of buying flowers while at the same time reflecting on the minutiae of the day around her and later prepares to throw a party. Clarissa Dalloway and Clarissa Vaughn also both reflect on their histories and past loves in relation to their current lives, which they both perceive as trivial. A number of other characters in Clarissa Vaughn's story also parallel characters in Woolf's 'Mrs. Dalloway.'

The Hours was well received by critics and till now has an 80% "fresh" rating regarding the reviews on the websites of eminent critics. However, the most dignified praise for the film came in the form of its acting, especially by Nicole Kidman, who has been found in the film with a prosthetic nose but was barely recognizable in her role as Virginia Woolf. In the words of Stephen Holden of The New York Times, "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.