Venus
Venus
R | 02 September 2006 (USA)
Venus Trailers

Maurice is an aging veteran actor who becomes taken with Jessie, the grandniece of his closest friend. When Maurice tries to soften the petulant and provincial young girl with the benefit of his wisdom and London culture, their give-and-take surprises both Maurice and Jessie as they discover what they don't know about themselves.

Reviews
ThiefHott

Too much of everything

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Freaktana

A Major Disappointment

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Chirphymium

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

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Plustown

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

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blanche-2

It's heartbreaking to see Peter O'Toole. He remains a truly great actor, but I can still remember seeing him on the big screen in "Lawrence of Arabia" and being mesmerized by his beauty. It was so mesmerizing, in fact, that Noel Coward warned him people were going to call him "Florence of Arabia." In "Venus," a 2006 film, O'Toole plays an actor, Maurice, who's not aging very gracefully but still has his wits about him. He and his good friend. another actor, Ian (Leslie Phillips) spend a lot of time together. Ian has a lot of aches and pains but now has some help - a great-niece, Jessie (Jodie Whittaker). He is rather excited about her coming to live with him, even going so far as to get her a pink towel. The next day, Ian tells Maurice that his great-niece is a horror. When Maurice meets her, though, he has a different impression. So different that he names her "Venus" after his favorite painting.Jessie in fact is a somewhat slovenly, sullen, overly made up young woman with good legs. She wants to model, so Maurice gets her a job modeling nude for an art class. Over time, a relationship develops. It's not really sexual, as Maurice is dealing with prostate cancer, and surgery has rendered him impotent, but he obviously fantasizes.As much as Jessie protests, she likes the attention. She occasionally lets him smell her neck or touch her hand, but that's it. Maurice is reliving the years when he was a true ladies' man. He left his wife (Vanessa Redgrave) with three children under the age of six for another woman, and one assumes the other woman was just a stopgap until the next one.Jessie's feelings towards Maurice evolve into something like caring, but along the way, she uses him to buy her nice things, and at one point asks him to leave his flat so she and her boyfriend can have sex. She also talks with him like a friend and seems to enjoy spending time with him. The big thing about Maurice is that he cares for her unreservedly, which is not something her parents did."Venus" is a lovely story with a great soundtrack, but the film is O'Toole's as he plays a faded actor dealing with old age and facing death. He has one last gasp at feeling young, flirting, and doing the things that young men do. And he makes us realize the saddest thing about old age. Inside you're still twenty-something. It's your body that lets you down.I've never seen Jodie Whittaker in anything else. She was so perfect in the role, I have no idea if she was acting or not. I suspect given her other credits that she was, and she did a masterful job playing a complicated young woman who hasn't quite figured out who she is yet.Leslie Phillips is also wonderful as Ian, a fussy old man for whom the very presence of his great-niece is offensive. The scene in their hangout, a coffee shop, is hilarious. He is so incensed that Maurice has her posing for art students that the two get into a fight, causing Maurice to utter my subject line. It's only one line in a script with fabulous dialogue. Vanessa Redgrave has a very small role but registers well. When doesn't she? A poignant, bittersweet film.

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Armand

it is one of his great roles. seductive, powerful, honest, simple. a piece from ordinary life. two worlds. few questions. a lot of answers. and three old men front with a girl who must define her. nothing else. or, this poor stage is best space for O'Toole art to do a delicate, convincing portrait. and his science of detail give force to Jodie Whittaker performance. and basis for story, nuances to its levels, joy to discover a rare small gem. a delight. in special form. and best manner to present steps of a fight against yourself in which innocence is part of wise gestures, in which love is more than desire but destroy of predictable future. a film about ordinary universe,. warm, touching, splendid. its axis - the brilliant Peter O'Toole.

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kenjha

An actor north of 70 lusts after a twenty-something woman. Yes, it is as creepy as it sounds, although it seems the filmmakers see it as a tender love story. Adding to the creep factor is O'Toole's behavior. He looks ancient and doesn't have the...um...tools to romance a young lady, but he has the raging hormones of a teenager and the vocabulary of a truck driver. He's not a likable person and neither is Whittaker as the young woman who uses him for material gain. The best parts of the movie are the funny scenes featuring O'Toole, Phillips, and Grifiths as old geezers gathering at a restaurant to commiserate about their pathetic lives.

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Jackson Booth-Millard

I had heard of this film mainly from two things, the lead actor being nominated an Oscar, and it being made by FilmFour, it turned out to be quite a satisfying film, from director Roger Michell (Notting Hill, The Mother). Basically Maurice Russell (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Peter O'Toole) and his friend Ian (BAFTA nominated Leslie Phillips, known for his catchphrase "Ding Dong") are two successful but ageing actors, and the best part they could get nowadays is a corpse or some arty-farty costume drama. Ian, fearful of death being around the corner, agrees to let his niece's daughter, Jessie (Jodie Whittaker) move into their flat to look after him, but it turns out Ian, a hard-drinking, rude, and dismissive twerp, can't stand 20-something Jessie. Maurice however is liking Jessie's company very much, he in fact sort of guides her with his kindness, although it is obvious that he likes Jessie - 50 years younger than him - much more than just a friend, which explains why he calls her 'Venus'. When Maurice dies in the end, with Jessie of course, she finds the courage to face her fears, and after refusing before, agrees to go nude to be painted, just like Venus. Also starring Harry Potter's Richard Griffiths as Donald, Vanessa Redgrave as Valerie, Philip Fox as Doctor, Cathryn Bradshaw as Jillian and Bronson Webb as Jessie's boyfriend. O'Toole lost the Oscar to deserved winner Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland, but you can still see this is a very creditable performance, with an also endearing performance from Phillips, and featuring music and songs from Corinne Bailey Rae, including "Like A Star" and "Put Your Records On", this is quite a watchable romantic comedy drama. Good!

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