Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf in The Hours

Best Actress at the 75th Annual Oscars (2002)

Notable Quote:

“I choose not the suffocating anesthetic of the suburbs, but the violent jolt of the capital, that is my choice.”

Synopsis:

Oh boy, this one is a doozy. Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) struggles with depression in the countryside. AND ALSO, Laura Brown (Julianne Moore), a 50s housewife, struggles with depression in the suburbs. AND ALSO, Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep) struggles to throw a party in the city. Got all that??

The character:

The real Virginia Woolf of real life was a polyamorous, feminist, creative pioneer. The Virginia Woolf of this film is … a rich lady that feels trapped in her boring life. That’s not an uninteresting premise, but it takes the absurd amount of potential that Woolf’s life offered and makes bland toast out of it. She’s a person who had multiple mental breakdowns, she was incredibly intellectual and probably a huge asshole, she had an iconic lesbian affair, and for most of this movie, she mopes around her house. I guess at one point she lays down next to a dead bird? She aggressively sends her maid to London to buy ginger, maybe that’s something?

There is one scene, however, that feels worthwhile: Virginia, fed up with a dull life in the country, heads to the train station, and ends up arguing with her husband about whether she should stay or go. It’s actually an incredibly complex situation. Her husband is just trying to keep her mentally well, which is fair, since she’s literally attempted suicide multiple times. But she should also have her autonomy and maybe is right that death is better than a horribly unhappy life. It’s a glimpse into what this character could’ve been.

The performance:

Ugh, I freaking love Nicole Kidman, and I wish I got to write about her in a more thrilling context. Let’s get the complaints out of the way first. The fake nose that turns Kidman into Virginia is very much what got her the win: yes, it’s interesting that she’s not at all identifiable as Nicole Kidman, but that’s not enough. Now, I’ll give Kidman credit here – she’s serving us a great accent, and she’s doing a different vibe than her usual swoony thing, but it feels like a classic Oscars move to assume that because she doesn’t seem like herself, Kidman is doing a great performance.

I’ve also talked a number of times about liking restraint in my acting, but lord, this is too restrained. I could have used some more scenery chewing. As usual, I blame the writing of the character: Virginia doesn’t have anything interesting to do, and she’s often in her head, so she’s at a real remove from everyone else.

Now, for the positives. I love that Kidman gives Virginia a slight twinkle, a real spark behind the eyes that shows that she’s an incredibly intelligent woman. It’s subtle but definitely there. She’s also great during the aforementioned train scene, probably because she actually gets the chance to express emotions. At least we’ll always have Kidman in her most iconic role in The Undoing (that reference will age well).

The movie:

Okay, hilariously, I haven’t even mentioned like eighty percent of the characters in this movie, because the whole thing is that in addition to Woolf’s storyline, there’s also two other stories happening in too other timelines. I can’t even get into all of that because there’s just so much going on and there are a million characters in each timeline, we’re constantly jumping around. But there’s also simultaneously nothing happening, this movie is snoozy, literary pretension. It’s a cool idea, and I’d actually be open to reading the book this was based on, but it fell extremely flat.

Was the Oscar deserved?

Ack, I hate to say it, but no. Best Nose? Yes. Best Actress? Pass.