Paula Bardell gives her verdict on one of the most daringly unconventional movies to hit the big screen in many a long year.
I long ago concluded that mainstream cinema had slipped in to a shallow, stagnant pool of tedious wishy-washiness, where it was destined to flail around, ridiculously waving its arms and generally amusing onlookers until some brave and resourceful soul had the wisdom to haul it out. Thankfully, it now seems that Hollywood has finally, if perhaps only momentarily, been dragged to higher ground.

The Hours, directed by Stephen Daldry (of Billy Elliot fame), is the most haunting, powerful and intelligent movie to grace our cinemas for many years. The story started life as a Pulitzer Prize-winning Michael Cunningham novel, inspired by Virginia Woolf