Omissions

Overall The Hours movie was enjoyable. The director did an exceptional job conveying the thoughts, worries, and frustrations of each of the characters without boring or confusing the audience. The movie also seemed to stay in line with the majority of the book. Several things were added to help the audience get a clear view of the characters. However there were small but deliberate items in the book that were noticeably absent from the movie.

One item I noticed that was left out of the movie occurred when Laura Brown was checking into the hotel. In the book the concierge told Laura that the only rooms left were on the lower floors which made me immediately rule out the possibility of her jumping. In the movie the concierge did not mention this and in addition the camera panned up the length of the building to show the full altitude of it. This is obviously a very minor alteration on the director’s part, but it changes the dynamic of the scene. It seems the director of the movie wanted the audience to think Laura would commit suicide by jumping out of the window. As the movie progresses the audience sees Laura contemplate suicide and then obviously she realizes she can’t do it. In the book the scene is slightly different. The audience knows Laura can’t jump so her thoughts on suicide seem more like mere thoughts. She seems less likely to act on them. It is a small but effective way of channeling Laura’s thoughts into a visual for the audience. There were other obvious pieces left out of the movie such as the Mary Krull character, the scene in which Clarissa sees a movie star, and the absence of Louis’s breakdown stemming from his relationship with his student.