Film review by Colin Fraser VENUS |
A 74 year old man strikes up a friendship with a 19 year old girl. Though what she's after, and what he expects to gain, is not immediately clear. | score 4 |
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Cast Peter O'Toole, Jodie Whittaker, Leslie Phillips, Vanessa Redgrave Director Roger Michelle Screenwriter Hanif Kureishi Country UK Rating / Running Time M / 95 minutes Australian Release February 2007 Official Site (c) moviereview
2006-2007
ABN 72 775 390 361 |
Spellbinding
is the general consensus regarding 74 year old Peter O’Toole’s effortless
performance in what could be his last, great role. He plays Maurice, a working
actor of reputation who still gets the occasional bit part; corpses and the
like. Jesse, the opportunistic grand-niece of his best friend Ian arrives from
the country. Her presence thoroughly upsets Ian’s fussy life, however Maurice
remains a ladies man and, generation gap notwithstanding, fancies his chances.
Yet this is no vanity piece – amid the woes of declining health, Maurice is
willing to degrade himself (a little) and even endures the indignity of an
on-screen prostate examination. Casting is central to the success of Venus, exemplified in two brief scenes
between Maurice and his estranged wife (played by O’Toole’s ex-wife Vanessa
Redgrave). They offer a master-class in acting. Inter-generational
romance was central to The Mother, a
prior collaboration between Michell and writer Hanif Kureishi, though here the
tone is much less brutal, and much easier to watch. Maurice and Jesse develop a
friendship though her motives are not so clear. For one thing, why does the petulant
girl allow a man four times her age kiss her on the shoulder? Revelling in
sharp wit and saucy humour, Kureishi’s excellent script sparkles as it travels
across the landscape of love, need and decay. In doing so, he gives O’Toole one
of his best roles in decades, skipping a line that in other hands could have
made Maurice a pitiable, if not thoroughly grotesque, character. Instead, his
is a delicate work that gives Venus
its beauty as they journey toward a sad yet gratifying last curtain-call. // COLIN FRASER |