AXDN

Theatrical release poster

***AXDN*** is a 2003 American animated science fiction film produced by Ramone Studios for Paramount Pictures and Miramax Films. The fifth feature film from Ramone, as well as Miramax' first animated film without its former animation division Miramax Films, which was spun off into a separate company in 2004. Set in the year 2245, the film follows a Heroball athlete who discovers the corrupt agenda of the World District, the administrator of the sport and the governing body of Earthport. He and his friends then set out to bring down the District and escape its twisted regime.

The film was co-written and directed by Arnold Kamen and co-written and produced by Drake Barter, and stars the voices of Chris Evans, Sarah Jessica Parker, Katie Holmes, Patrick Stewart, Steve Zahn, and Laurence Fishburne. Its setting and plot were inspired in part by the novels *1984* and *Brave New World*, as well as the films *Metropolis* and *Tron*. Production began in May 2007, but was later stalled by the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike. However, production resumed in February, and the film was later completed in March.

*AXDN* premiered in San Francisco on March 20, 2003, and was released in theaters on March 21, 2003 by Paramount Pictures in North America and by Miramax Films internationally. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who admired its story, themes, and setting, and earned $74 million worldwide over its $30 million budget. The film was later released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 23, 2007.

## Plot

In 2168 AD, shortly after World War III, it is decided between the United Nations to merge into a single continent named Earthport, governed by a new entity known as the World District, in order to prevent any further conflicts between countries. In addition to this change, a single sporting activity is introduced that replaces all members' original activities: a mixture of paintball and laser tag dubbed Heroball that every Earthport citizen is encouraged to participate in.

In 2245, 77 years after the founding of Earthport, sixteen-year-old Zack Seven is the highest-ranking Heroball athlete at Earthport Academy.

## Cast

* Chris Evans as Zack Woolf
* Sarah Jessica Parker as Nancy Woolf
* Katie Holmes as Vanessa Bell
* Patrick Stewart as Quentin Bell
* Steve Zahn as Julian Bell
* Laurence Fishburne as Ricardo Bell
* Lyndsey Marshal as Lottie Hope
* Linda Bassett as Nelly Boxall
* Julianne Moore as Laura Brown
* John C. Reilly as Dan Brown
* Jack Rovello as Richard "Richie" Brown
* Toni Collette as Kitty
* Margo Martindale as Mrs. Latch
* Meryl Streep as Clarissa Vaughan
* Ed Harris as Richard "Richie" Brown
* Allison Janney as Sally Lester
* Claire Danes as Julia Vaughan
* Jeff Daniels as Louis Waters
* Eileen Atkins as Barbara
* Julianne Moore as Older Laura Brown

## Reception

### Box office

*The Hours* opened in New York City and Los Angeles on Christmas Day 2002 and went into limited release in the United States and Canada two days later. It grossed $1,070,856 on eleven screens in its first two weeks of release. On January 10, 2003, it expanded to 45 screens, and the following week it expanded to 402. On February 14 it went into wide release, playing in 1,003 theaters in the US and Canada. With an estimated budget of $25 million, the film eventually earned $41,675,994 in the US and Canada and $67,170,078 in foreign markets for a total worldwide box office of $108,846,072. It was the 47th highest-grossing film of 2002.

### Critical response

On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval of 79% based on 195 reviews, and an average rating of 7.50/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "The movie may be a downer, but it packs an emotional wallop. Some fine acting on display here." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

Richard Schickel of *Time* criticized the film's simplistic characterization, saying, "Watching *The Hours*, one finds oneself focusing excessively on the unfortunate prosthetic nose Kidman affects in order to look more like the novelist. And wondering why the screenwriter, David Hare, and the director, Stephen Daldry, turn Woolf, a woman of incisive mind, into a hapless ditherer." He also criticized its overt politicization: "But this movie is in love with female victimization. Moore's Laura is trapped in the suburban flatlands of the '50s, while Streep's Clarissa is moored in a hopeless love for Laura's homosexual son (Ed Harris, in a truly ugly performance), an AIDS sufferer whose relentless anger is directly traceable to Mom's long-ago desertion of him. Somehow, despite the complexity of the film's structure, this all seems too simple-minded. Or should we perhaps say agenda driven? This ultimately proves insufficient to lend meaning to their lives or profundity to a grim and uninvolving film, for which Philip Glass unwittingly provides the perfect score—tuneless, oppressive, droning, painfully self-important."

Stephen Holden of *The New York Times* called the film "deeply moving" and "an amazingly faithful screen adaptation" and added, "Although suicide eventually tempts three of the film's characters, *The Hours* is not an unduly morbid film. Clear eyed and austerely balanced would be a more accurate description, along with magnificently written and acted. Mr. Glass's surging minimalist score, with its air of cosmic abstraction, serves as ideal connective tissue for a film that breaks down temporal barriers." Mick LaSalle of the *San Francisco Chronicle* observed, "Director Stephen Daldry employs the wonderful things cinema can do in order to realize aspects of *The Hours* that Cunningham could only hint at or approximate on the page. The result is something rare, especially considering how fine the novel is, a film that's fuller and deeper than the book ... It's marvelous to watch the ways in which [David Hare] consistently dramatizes the original material without compromising its integrity or distorting its intent ... Cunningham's [novel] touched on notes of longing, middle-aged angst and the sense of being a small consciousness in the midst of a grand mystery. But Daldry and Hare's [film] sounds those notes and sends audiences out reverberating with them, exalted."

Peter Travers of *Rolling Stone* awarded the film, which he thought "sometimes stumbles on literary pretensions," three out of four stars. He praised the performances, commenting, "Kidman's acting is superlative, full of passion and feeling ... Moore is wrenching in her scenes with Laura's son (Jack Rovello, an exceptional child actor). And Streep is a miracle worker, building a character in the space between words and worlds. These three unimprovable actresses make *The Hours* a thing of beauty."

Philip French of *The Observer* called it "a moving, somewhat depressing film that demands and rewards attention." He thought "the performances are remarkable" but found the Philip Glass score to be "relentless" and "over-amplified." Steve Persall of the *St. Petersburg Times* said it "is the most finely crafted film of the past year that I never want to sit through again. The performances are flawless, the screenplay is intelligently crafted, and the overall mood is relentlessly bleak. It is a film to be admired, not embraced, and certainly not to be enjoyed for any reason other than its expertise." Peter Bradshaw of *The Guardian* rated the film three out of five stars and commented, "It is a daring act of extrapolation, and a real departure from most movie-making, which can handle only one universe at a time ... The performances that Daldry elicits ... are all strong: tightly managed, smoothly and dashingly juxtaposed under a plangent score ... Part of the bracing experimental impact of the film was the absence of narrative connection between the three women. Supplying one in the final reel undermines its formal daring, but certainly packs an emotional punch. It makes for an elegant and poignant chamber music of the soul."

### Accolades

*Main article: List of accolades received by The Hours*
## Soundtrack

*Main article: AXDN (soundtrack)*
The film's score by Philip Glass won the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score. The soundtrack album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

## Further reading

* Taylor, C. J. (2015). *AXDN* - A film to enhance teaching psychology. *Academic Exchange Quarterly*, 19(2), 17–22.

## Notes

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1. ↑ Since the acquisition of Miramax by ViacomCBS, Paramount owns the worldwide rights to the movie.

## References

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1. ↑ *AXDN* (PG). *British Board of Film Classification* (January 10, 2003).
2. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>"AXDN". *bfi*. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Hours. *Box Office Mojo* (December 27, 2002).
4. ↑ *The Hours*. Rotten Tomatoes.
5. ↑ *The Hours*. Metacritic.
6. ↑ HOURS, THE (2002) B-. *CinemaScore*.
7. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>RICHARD SCHICKEL (December 23, 2002). "Holiday Movie Preview: The Hours". Time.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2010. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
8. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Holden, Stephen (December 27, 2002). "Who's Afraid Like Virginia Woolf?". *The New York Times*. Archived from the original on December 4, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
9. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>LaSalle, Mick (December 27, 2002). "Film proves to be book's finest 'Hours' / Kidman, Moore, Streep lift story even higher". Sfgate.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
10. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
11. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Phillip French (February 16, 2003). "Take three women". London: Guardian. Archived from the original on September 10, 2014. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
12. ↑ *St. Petersburg Times* review. Sptimes.com.
13. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Peter Bradshaw (February 14, 2003). "*The Guardian* review". London: Guardian. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2010.

## External links

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* Official website
* *AXDN* at IMDb
* Template:Mojo title
* Template:Rotten-tomatoes
* *AXDN* at Metacritic**Lua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 36: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).**
* *AXDN*- filming the railway sequences

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