AllMovie

A Few Hours of Sunlight wants to be an involving study of romance among the unsettled, an examination of hollow souls searching for meaning and fulfillment without ever knowing that that is what they are doing. Unfortunately, there's a large gap between what Sunlight wants to be and what it is: an ultimately boring romantic melodrama focusing on two people about whom it is very difficult to care. Certainly the main male character is a shallow, cynical type who is far too self-obsessed and self-interested to generate much interest in the viewer; the central female character is a bit more likeable, but she's also rather two dimensional and superficial. All of this would matter less if they had qualities -- a unique sense of humor, a passion for something, an obsession -- that made them come to life. But they are paper thin dolls and simply don't hold the viewer's attention. This isn't due to the performers. Marc Porel does very well as Gilles, and Claudine Auger is even better as Nathalie, but they aren't given enough to work with to make the film leap to life.Jacques Deray directs carefully, letting his camera languish on his subjects in an attempt to impart meaning to the proceedings, but it's all sleight of hand: there's just not much meat to the film.