'Hours'
A single father finds himself alone during Katrina while the world crumbles outside
Reviewed by Dan Solomon, Fri., March 15, 2013
SXSW Film Reviews
Hours
Narrative Spotlight, World PremiereD: Eric Heisserer; with Paul Walker, Genesis Rodriguez
Hurricane Katrina hasn't been depicted much in narrative film, which would make Hours unique solely by virtue of its subject matter. But this high-concept indie doesn't rely on its setting alone. Walker stars as Nolan, a husband whose wife is rushed to the hospital with complications from childbirth while Hurricane Katrina bears down on New Orleans. Suddenly a single father to a newborn who can only breathe with the help of a ventilator, Nolan finds himself alone and relying on a hand-cranked generator to keep his baby alive while the world breaks down outside the hospital walls. A tightly paced thriller, Hours amps up the drama by cheating on its conceit – the minutes Walker has to crank the generator won't hold up if you're using a stopwatch – and repeating some debunked Katrina myths as fact. Still, as a purely cinematic experience, Hours finds every drop of tension in its compelling plot.
Wednesday, March 13, 3:30pm, Violet Crown
