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Iris (2001)
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Reviews Counted:108
Fresh:85
Rotten:23
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: A solidly constructed drama, Iris is greatly elevated by the strength of its four lead performances.
Runtime: 90 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Based on the book ELEGY FOR IRIS, by John Bayley, this biopic tells the inspiring and heartbreaking story of the writer's 40-year romance with English novelist Dame Iris Murdoch. The film cuts back... Based on the book ELEGY FOR IRIS, by John Bayley, this biopic tells the inspiring and heartbreaking story of the writer's 40-year romance with English novelist Dame Iris Murdoch. The film cuts back and forth between the young Iris and John (played by Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville), at the height of their romantic adventures as students at Oxford in the 1950s, and the elderly couple (played by Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent), struggling with Iris' decline, as her brilliant mind is ravaged by the effects of Alzheimer's. Judi Dench gives an outstanding performance--her transformation from a prolific genius of the written and spoken word (Murdoch wrote 26 novels), to the infantile state of losing her language facilities altogether, is truly wrenching. Jim Broadbent is equally touching as her partner for life, who has adored the passionate Iris since they met, but was never fully able to possess her until the tragic end, when he declares in grief, "I've got you now, and I don't bloody want you!" Directed by Richard Eyre, artistic director of Britain's Royal National Theater, the film is uniquely sensitive and finely acted. [More]
Starring: Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet, Hugh Bonneville
Starring: Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet, Hugh Bonneville, Penelope Wilton
Director: Richard Eyre
Director: Richard Eyre
Screenwriter: Charles Wood, Richard Eyre
Producer: Scott Rudin
Composer: James Horner
Studio: Miramax Films
Reviews for Iris
Passes judgement on a life without viewing many of its passages and attempts to discuss passion through a style of mirthless rigidity
Dench and Winslet inhabit the role of Iris with such intensity it's hard to take your eyes off them.
Despite good acting from the two pairs, viewers expecting illuminating insights about the literary genius, eccentric philosophy and complex sexuality of Iris Murdoch will be disappointed by Richard Eyre's minor, rambling, TV-like film.
...Iris isn't necessarily an enjoyable piece of work, though it's certainly interesting...
There is not a slouch in this film, in front of or behind the camera.
Latest News for Iris
April 13, 2006:
Rogue Shows Some Fuzz Love
Read on for a very formal press release from Rogue Pictures, the ultimate gist of which is this: Rogue, which is the "genre arm" of Universal Pictures, will distribute... More...
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