Stolen Hours (Reviewed on Aug. 25th/98)
Starring Susan Hayward
"Stolen Hours" asks a very intriguing question: If you found out you had only a year left in which to live your life, how would you live it? It's a question most people never want to think about, but one which the central character of "Stolen Hours" is faced with.
Susan Hayward plays that character, a woman suffering from headaches and minor paralysis, who discovers that she has a terminal form of brain cancer and has 10 to 12 months to live. She is tricked by some friends into seeing a doctor at a party she is holding, and he ends up becoming both her full-time physician and later on, her husband.
It's a tough subject and the film handles it well. About halfway through, I realized something. I realized that I was watching a movie intended for adults. In this day and age when the 18-25 demographic is the most important thing out there, it was a refreshing change to watch a movie that was not meant for adolescents. This is a film about the fear that comes with knowing that the end is near.
Hayward handles the part excellently. She doesn't get hysterical as one might expect, but instead handles herself with a quiet dignity that is almost heartbreaking. She wants to get the audience to put themselves in her place, to think about how information like that would change a persons life. She gives a very open and honest performance, and I didn't find any inconsistencies in it.
"Stolen Hours" is the type of film that is rarely made anymore. There are no major conflicts within the story, no big revelations made, and no useless sub-plots. That's too bad, because movies like this are what make watching movies interesting. They make you think.
*** out of ****
-- David Nusair dnusair@chat.carleton.ca Come visit my "Reel Film Reviews" site! "http://chat.carleton.ca/~dnusair"
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