Is it worth staying alive for others if you would rather be dead? Three women in "The Hours" deal with this question. One woman is writing a novel, one is reading it, the other seems to be trapped in it.

The first is Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) whom we encounter after she has moved to the suburbs and begun writing her novel, "Mrs. Dalloway." Woolf is mentally ill and has moved away from London, on the advice of her doctors, to escape "the noise." However, the tranquility of the suburbs only exposes and amplifies the noises in her mind. "I wrestle alone, in the dark, the deep dark," she tells her husband, Leonard. The film opens with her committing suicide in order to spare herself and Leonard of more misery.

Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) is a 50's suburban housewife who is reading "Mrs. Dalloway." She is carrying out the role of the suburban Woolf who can't stand the never-ending silence. She is married, has a young boy, and a child on the way. There is an interaction with her nieghbor that reveals that she might be a lesbian. Reading "Mrs. Dalloway" convinces her that her life is a lie, it is nothing that she wants it to be. One day, she decides to renounce it. How she goes about this is revealed at the end of the film.

Clarissa Vaughn (Meryl Streep) lives in modern day NYC with her lesbian lover. She, like Dalloway, is planning a party and goes out to buy flowers. Like the urban Virginia Woolf, her life is flooded with "noise." She keeps herself constantly occupied in order to drown out introspection. She keeps busy by visiting her former lover Richard (Ed Harris), a gay poet dying of AIDS. She is throwing a party for him to celebrate his recent literary award. Richard is Laura Brown's son, her actions have deeply affected him. He tells Clarissa "I think I've been staying alive just to please you." He often refers to her as "Mrs. Dalloway," Clarissa is aware that she is stuck in the character but she can't help it.

The film masterfully ties these storylines together. Each woman is unsettled in their particular role, trying to escape. Their self-awareness and rationality of how they cope seems to progress with time. These women are not shown as victimized. Each of their lovers are good people, they are just unaware of what the women are going through. The threes actresses all do an excellent job of conveying their characters' inner-torment. All of the press surrounding this film revolves around Kidman, but I have to give the prize to Moore. She follows up "Far From Heaven" with another staggering, Oscar-worthy performance.

The ending of the film could have easily been sentimental but instead it is cathardic. It leaves you pondering how you should deal with the noise in your mind. If you don't like the person you've become, surely you can't stand the silence of being alone. The effects of suicide are felt throughout the generations by the loved ones, and their loved ones, etc. Our lives are not self-contained, making a conscious choice to destroy one will destroy others. Taking such a selfish act, failing to extrapolate its consequences is, unfortunately, an easy escape.

There is a great article in the New York Times written by the author of "The Hours," Michael Cunningham. He gives his opinion on how his characters were transformed form page to screen.