Hours

Year: 2013
Genre: Drama thriller
Director: Eric Heisserer


Plot: A father desperately attempts to keep his newborn baby alive during Hurricane Katrina.


The gist: This was one of Paul Walker's last films before his untimely death recently. It's good to note that unlike his buddy Vin Diesel, he does attempt to try other genres outside of his Fast & Furious series.

Hours stars Walker as Nolan, a man whose wife dies after giving birth to their daughter, who is five weeks too early and has to be put into an incubator until she can breathe on her own. Unfortunately for him, Hurricane Katrina blows in and takes out the power, forcing Nolan to find ways to keep his daughter alive as the entire hospital evacuates.

His only hope is a manual generator which he connects to the incubator, and he has to spin it every 3 minutes or so to keep it going. In between, Nolan tries to find help or connect with his daughter, or recall memories of his late wife.

I like the story here, kudos to writer and director Eric Heisserer for coming up with it. It's a different take on films like 127 Hours and Cast Away, where a singular character carries most of the film alone. The cinematography is also commendable.


The good: Walker does great work here as Nolan. He basically has to act by himself a lot here, and he's solid in the role. I would have loved to see him do more roles like this, it's unfortunate that he's no longer around.

The bad: Heisserer's script needs a bit more work, as it goes against logic several times in deliberately giving Nolan obstacle after obstacle to overcome. The most obvious one would be Nolan trying to get a backup generator in a flooded room working, while having to go back to the incubator to charge it every 3 minutes. The story improves when the looters show up in the third act, but it's not enough to cover this weakness up. The ending is also rather predictable, making the film look like a TV movie.


Verdict: It's a decent drama to be honest, and Paul Walker does a great job here. But it could have been better with a smarter script. (3/5)