Hours (2013)

Directed by: Eric Heisserer
Country: USA

Film Review: Eric Heisserer’s directorial debut, “Hours”, will be topic of conversation for a while, not for any special good reasons since the film isn’t good at all, but because it was the latest film to be released with actor Paul Walker, who died last November at the age of 40, in a fatal car crash. In this thriller, he plays the unlucky Nolan Hayes who lost his wife when she was giving birth to his daughter in a hospital of New Orleans, precisely when hurricane Katrina arrives. The child lived but it was imperative to keep her for at least 48 hours in a ventilator. The difficulty comes when Nolan was left practically alone in the hospital after an emergency evacuation, with high risk of running out of electrical power, the necessity of staying awake (to manage the generator that keeps his infant child alive), and dealing with unexpected and unfriendly visits. I believe that the association made to hurricane Katrina, a subject exhaustively addressed, took away some strength, turning the unlikely plot even more uninspired. Occasional flashbacks recreating happy moments of Nolan and his wife, didn’t add anything relevant, while the imaginary conversations with her spirit were never characterized by any kind of smartness to be engaging. The slight thrill only comes from the fact of being a baby whose life is at stake, as for the rest, “Hours” comes completely out of time, and never surprised me, whether in terms of plot, direction, or production values. I guess not even an adrenaline shot would save me from drowsiness.