The Hours and Times (1992)

This film still leaves me on the fence everytime I watch it. On one hand, it's a well made film with some great acting and good cinemotography. On the other, I dislike the direction they took with it and felt too much like internet fanfiction than a "what if" story.

The Hours and Times is a fictional retelling of the infamous 1963 Barcelona trip John Lennon and Brian Epstein took, just a week before the start of Beatlemania. Ian Hart plays John Lennon and David Angus plays Brian Epstein. The majority of the movie takes place in their hotel room and most of the dialogue is about gay sex. John being curious about what's it like as a homosexual man living in a time of prejudice, and Brian is forced to keep back his feelings about John.

This is a slightly difficult movie for me to review since my feelings are mixed like I said before. The idea of this film, while ludicrous, still holds and air of possibility. Since what happened during their 1963 trip is completely unknown, everything is up in the air and there was a slight possibility something along these lines could've happened. The acting is really good with Ian Hart being one of the best actors to portray Lennon in my opinion. David Angus also does well portraying Epstein. While there are a few glaring time period mistakes (the most glaring being that while hanging out in the hotel, both men wear athletic clothing from a brand that wasn't created until the late 1980's early 1990's.), it's easy to overlook and didn't bug me too much. It's a shorter film, running only a little over an hour long, but it's still the perfect length as anything longer would've been unncecessary. Those who like homosexual romances in films will find satisfaction, especially in one scene that I don't want to mention, though I will say it involved a bathtub.

I'm not sure who to recommend this to, though I guess if you're a major Beatles fan you may want to check this out. But I'd rather recommend "Backbeat" for them. So, this is really only for those who're curious and want to see more of Ian Hart as John Lennon. That's kind of it. (Real rating: 67%)