The Hours and Times Movie Review

Die-hard Beatles fans may quibble with the historical accuracy of Christopher Munch's 1992 movie, but The Hours and Times is in fact inspired by an authentic 1963 incident in the lives of John Lennon and Brian Epstein while they were on a Barcelona holiday. It has attracted rave reviews all over the world, and the look of the film is exactly right for the period. But since both Lennon and Epstein are long dead, why make THIS movie, rather than any other, about their long professional association? Well, if the film had been about a well-dressed fictional man of the world and his young, gifted, and fictional client, would The Hours and Times have attracted the attention it has? No, it would not. Ethical considerations aside, incomplete forward passes generally occupy a minute, not an hour, of screen time. Very well acted by David Angus as Brian and by Ian Hart as John, though. (Hart played the role a second time in 1994's more elaborate Backbeat.)

1992 60m/B David Angus, Ian Hart, Stephanie Pack, Robin McDonald, Sergio Moreno, Unity Grimwood; D: Christopher Munch; W: Christopher Munch. Sundance Film Festival ‘92: Special Jury Prize. VHS