Star’s death raises profile for Hurricane Katrina drama ‘Hours’

It’s not as exploitative as it may sound.

The Hurricane Katrina drama “Hours” was scheduled to have opened Friday at AMC Town Square (as well as on video on demand) long before its star, Paul Walker, was killed Nov. 30.

Still, the small, low-budget tale is attracting exponentially more attention than it would have had the actor never set foot in that Porsche Carrera.

Walker stars as Nolan Hayes, who loses his wife (Genesis Rodriguez) while she prematurely gives birth to their daughter. When Katrina comes ashore later that day and causes the hospital’s evacuation, he stays behind to look after his newborn, who’s tethered to a ventilator and can’t be moved.

Once the hospital loses power and he realizes the ventilator’s faulty battery won’t hold a charge of more than three minutes, Nolan, utterly alone in the abandoned hospital, is forced to seek help in small increments in between rushing back to hand-crank the battery.

As the hours drag on, the grieving, exhausted Nolan passes the time by telling his daughter about the mother she’ll never know.

It’s an interesting premise that writer-director Eric Heisserer never fully capitalizes on.

But as one of his final roles — it remains unclear how much, if any, of the footage the actor filmed for the seventh “Fast and Furious” will be usable — “Hours” is almost wall-to-wall Walker, which should draw plenty of interest from his fans.

If you’re looking to see Walker at his best, and in his element, though, you should stick to the “Furious” movies. The sixth of those, also coincidentally, was released on DVD last week.

■ A worthy cause: Celine Dion hosts and will perform as part of the 15th annual “A Home for the Holidays” (8 p.m. Wednesday, KLAS-TV, Channel 8). She’ll be joined by Rancho High grad Ne-Yo, who’ll also perform on the special that’s designed to spotlight foster-care adoptions. Las Vegans Jason and Tammy Gerber, who adopted three siblings who had been separated in foster care, will be featured, too.

■ Get classy: See the Royal Ballet’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Colonnade, Santa Fe, South Point and Village Square. And catch the Metropolitan Opera’s take on Verdi’s “Falstaff” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Cannery, Colonnade, Orleans, Sam’s Town, Santa Fe, South Point and Village Square.

■ Stay classy: If you can’t wait an extra day until “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” officially opens at 9 p.m. Tuesday, then the Superticket Premiere is for you. For $31, you can see the sequel at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Town Square and get an instant digital download of “Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie,” a digital high-definition download of “Anchorman 2” weeks before it hits DVD, and a $5 concession card.

■ Special screening: Sure, you could stay home Friday and watch it for free on NBC, with all the commercial breaks, pop-up ads and other distractions. Or you could see “It’s a Wonderful Life” the way it was intended at 2 p.m. Sunday or 2 or 7 p.m. Wednesday at Sam’s Town, Santa Fe, South Point and Suncoast.

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567.