Venus
starring: Peter O'Toole, Leslie Phillips, Beatrice Savoretti, Philip Fox, Lolita Chakrabarti
directed by: Roger Michell
directed by: Roger Michell
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Product Description:
Maurice and Ian are successful but aging actors close friends whose conversation revolves around theatrical shop talk and the infirmities of septuagenarianism. Ian in particular is fearful that death is right around the corner so he agrees to let his niece's daughter Jessie move in to his flat to care for him. Jessie a provincial girl in her early twenties turns out to be a nightmare for Ian a hard-drinking rude and dismissive twerp. But Maurice sees something else in the girl a potential for humanity which blossoms under his kindness and gentle guidance. Something else blossoms for Maurice as well: romantic love for a girl fifty years younger. Surprises follow all around.Run Time: 94 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 786936712438 Manufacturer No: 05208200
Amazon.com:
Peter O'Toole adds another Great One to his list of indelible performances:as Maurice, a frail but defiantly horny London actor in his sunset, O'Toole lays bare his weathered face and sophisticated soul for a marvelous portrait of mortality. Maurice, who mostly hangs out counting pills and parsing obituaries with his fellow old-trouper Ian (Leslie Phillips), is roused to play Pygmalion one final time... not on stage, but in life, as Ian's gauche, callow niece (Jodie Whittaker) comes to live with her uncle. It would be very easy to turn this set-up into a heartwarming drama, but screenwriter Hanif Kureishi (My Beautiful Laundrette) has never been one to warm hearts. Unless it's on his own terms. As Maurice takes his Venus under his frail wing and imparts a few old-school instructions to this junk-culture lass, Kureishi and director Roger Michell hit just the right notes of clumsiness, grace, and regret. Everybody's good in the film; Jodie Whittaker does nicely by the task of creating a rather ordinary young woman, and Vanessa Redgrave turns up as Maurice's patient, long-suffering ex (about whom there is nothing ordinary). But it's O'Toole's show, and the grand old actor gives a performance without a hint of grandness, except where it might fit. When he sighs a valedictory, "There really isn't anything else," you know a life's experiences and mistakes are distilled in the wisdom. --Robert Horton
Maurice and Ian are successful but aging actors close friends whose conversation revolves around theatrical shop talk and the infirmities of septuagenarianism. Ian in particular is fearful that death is right around the corner so he agrees to let his niece's daughter Jessie move in to his flat to care for him. Jessie a provincial girl in her early twenties turns out to be a nightmare for Ian a hard-drinking rude and dismissive twerp. But Maurice sees something else in the girl a potential for humanity which blossoms under his kindness and gentle guidance. Something else blossoms for Maurice as well: romantic love for a girl fifty years younger. Surprises follow all around.Run Time: 94 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 786936712438 Manufacturer No: 05208200
Amazon.com:
Peter O'Toole adds another Great One to his list of indelible performances:as Maurice, a frail but defiantly horny London actor in his sunset, O'Toole lays bare his weathered face and sophisticated soul for a marvelous portrait of mortality. Maurice, who mostly hangs out counting pills and parsing obituaries with his fellow old-trouper Ian (Leslie Phillips), is roused to play Pygmalion one final time... not on stage, but in life, as Ian's gauche, callow niece (Jodie Whittaker) comes to live with her uncle. It would be very easy to turn this set-up into a heartwarming drama, but screenwriter Hanif Kureishi (My Beautiful Laundrette) has never been one to warm hearts. Unless it's on his own terms. As Maurice takes his Venus under his frail wing and imparts a few old-school instructions to this junk-culture lass, Kureishi and director Roger Michell hit just the right notes of clumsiness, grace, and regret. Everybody's good in the film; Jodie Whittaker does nicely by the task of creating a rather ordinary young woman, and Vanessa Redgrave turns up as Maurice's patient, long-suffering ex (about whom there is nothing ordinary). But it's O'Toole's show, and the grand old actor gives a performance without a hint of grandness, except where it might fit. When he sighs a valedictory, "There really isn't anything else," you know a life's experiences and mistakes are distilled in the wisdom. --Robert Horton
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Kind of a weird movie!
Two elderly actors, who have been friends for a very long time, are anxiously dealing with life and waiting for death. One of them has a niece whose daughter offered to come from the farmside to take care of him. He however discovers that she is a total nightmare and as a result he totally rejects her.
His friend on the other hand falls in love with her. She is 50 years younger than him and he still falls in love with her and wants her so badly, sometimes in many sick ways. She couldn't ... Read More
Rating: - Quirky, Funny, and touching...
It isn't difficult to summarize a film with an elderly lead; they nearly always detail a failing body and mind, ending in a sad but inevitable death. It is to the credit of director Roger Mitchell, writer Hanif Kureishi, and especially stars Peter O'Toole, Leslie Phillips, and Vanessa Redgrave, that "Venus" is a little treasure, embracing the ravages of age and vaguries of love, both physically and spiritually, with a nearly 'gallows' humor that is irresistable.
Director Mitchell, with tongue ... Read More
Rating: 
- One of the Most Amazing Movies Ever
I fell in love with this film immediately. It is one of the most touching and powerful films I have ever had the pleasure to watch. Other than the impeccable performance of the cast, this film offers a sense of timelessness to its viewers because it focuses upon the relationship between Jessie and Maurice, who are at opposite ends of the human life spectrum. Regardless of the age difference, they offer each other a unique type of companionship and love in the end. It is a film that is sad yet beautiful because ... Read More
Rating: - Life Affirming
What a beautiful little film. Peter O' Tools character, Maurice, is so full of life despite his rather frail appearance and as excentric as one would imagine O' Toll himself to be.
For anyone concerned with growing old and eventually dying this movie provides some light at the end of the tunnel.
Rating: - So much more than mere sentiment...
I admit; I have no idea why I saw this movie.The film didn't look appealing to me and the accolades it racked up I just chucked up to pure sentimentality, especially when in regards to Peter O'Toole's Oscar nomination.The film came on Cinemax the other night though, and so I decided to give it a try.
Wow.
I will never just automatically dismiss anything as pure sentiment again, for Peter O'Toole is flawless here and delivers what may be his finest performance of all time.In all honesty, ... Read More
- Kind of a weird movie!Two elderly actors, who have been friends for a very long time, are anxiously dealing with life and waiting for death. One of them has a niece whose daughter offered to come from the farmside to take care of him. He however discovers that she is a total nightmare and as a result he totally rejects her.
His friend on the other hand falls in love with her. She is 50 years younger than him and he still falls in love with her and wants her so badly, sometimes in many sick ways. She couldn't ... Read More
- Quirky, Funny, and touching...It isn't difficult to summarize a film with an elderly lead; they nearly always detail a failing body and mind, ending in a sad but inevitable death. It is to the credit of director Roger Mitchell, writer Hanif Kureishi, and especially stars Peter O'Toole, Leslie Phillips, and Vanessa Redgrave, that "Venus" is a little treasure, embracing the ravages of age and vaguries of love, both physically and spiritually, with a nearly 'gallows' humor that is irresistable.
Director Mitchell, with tongue ... Read More
- One of the Most Amazing Movies EverI fell in love with this film immediately. It is one of the most touching and powerful films I have ever had the pleasure to watch. Other than the impeccable performance of the cast, this film offers a sense of timelessness to its viewers because it focuses upon the relationship between Jessie and Maurice, who are at opposite ends of the human life spectrum. Regardless of the age difference, they offer each other a unique type of companionship and love in the end. It is a film that is sad yet beautiful because ... Read More
- Life AffirmingWhat a beautiful little film. Peter O' Tools character, Maurice, is so full of life despite his rather frail appearance and as excentric as one would imagine O' Toll himself to be.
For anyone concerned with growing old and eventually dying this movie provides some light at the end of the tunnel.
- So much more than mere sentiment...I admit; I have no idea why I saw this movie.The film didn't look appealing to me and the accolades it racked up I just chucked up to pure sentimentality, especially when in regards to Peter O'Toole's Oscar nomination.The film came on Cinemax the other night though, and so I decided to give it a try.
Wow.
I will never just automatically dismiss anything as pure sentiment again, for Peter O'Toole is flawless here and delivers what may be his finest performance of all time.In all honesty, ... Read More
