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MOVIES / ON DVD / VENUS
Venus

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Venus (2006)

89%
100%
74%
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89 %
Reviews Counted: 142 Fresh: 126  Rotten:16 Average Rating: 7.3/10
 
Consensus: A humane, tender exploration of maturing with both dignity and irreverence. Audiences may attend to witness Peter O'Toole's Oscar-worthy performance, but they'll also be treated to a humane, tender exploration of maturing with both dignity and irreverence. more
 
Rated: 15
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Theatrical Release: 26-01-2007
Synopsis:
Screen legend Peter O'Toole stars in this moving story of an elderly actor and his somewhat questionable relationship with a teenage girl. Maurice (O'Toole) and his friend Ian (Leslie Phillips) are two classy curmudgeons whiling away their hours in coffee shops and at the theater, but their... [More]
Screen legend Peter O'Toole stars in this moving story of an elderly actor and his somewhat questionable relationship with a teenage girl. Maurice (O'Toole) and his friend Ian (Leslie Phillips) are two classy curmudgeons whiling away their hours in coffee shops and at the theater, but their routine is thrown for a loop when Ian's niece's daughter Jessie (Jodie Whittaker) is sent from the country to act as his nurse. Jessie shows up on the scene sullen and pouty, immediately drinking all the liquor in the house and slouching her way from room to room. But Maurice befriends her, taking her to museums and getting her a gig as an art model, and along the way he openly expresses the lust she has awakened in him. Jessie's brash rejections of his affections are at first as amusing as they are awkward. When she starts to allow him small pleasures--like kissing her bare shoulders or caressing her hands--the film enters into some uncomfortable, complicated territory, but it is deftly navigated by Hanif Kureishi's sharp screenplay, and O'Toole's heartbreaking performance. VENUS is in many ways a quiet film, shot mainly in tiny shops and in Ian's musty apartment, and it often relies on single shots of O'Toole's weary blue eyes to convey the many complexities within the story. Far from just a tale of a May-December romance, VENUS is a very raw look at growing old, and the aches and pains, both emotional and physical, that accompany a man near the end of his life. It is an honest, moving portrait of human desire, and how it can both beat us down and lift us up--no matter the age. [Less]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Peter O'Toole, Jodie Whittaker, Leslie Phillips, Vanessa Redgrave, Beatrice Savoretti

Producer: Kevin Loader, Scott Rudin
Composer: David Arnold, Corinne Bailey Rae
Director: Roger Michell

DVD Info

Release:

Oct 5, 2008

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - Roger Michell - Director; Kevin Loader - Producer
  • Deleted Scenes - Deleted Scenes With Optional Commentary
  • Featurette - VENUS: A REAL WORK OF ART

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image

Roger Michel knows how to do People-in-Rooms better than most directors do, but the joys of it really are the performances and it's worth seeing for O'Toole and Phillips together.

Full Review | Comment
01/29/07 12:37 AM
Mark Kermode
BBC Radio Five Live
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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A witty and delicately handled faltering romance. Delightful.

Full Review | Comment
01/28/07 11:23 PM
Mark Adams
Sunday Mirror [UK]
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A singularly disagreeable movie.

Full Review | Comment
01/28/07 11:12 PM
Philip French
Observer [UK]
Ratings Image

A threadbare comedy-drama, with an insubstantial story and the patronising, post-Pygmalion theme of a working-class slob being reformed by the power of art.

Full Review | Comment
01/28/07 10:59 PM
Nicholas Barber
Independent on Sunday
Ratings Image

Like a variation on Death in Venice, only this could be Death in Kentish Town.

Full Review | Comment
01/28/07 10:48 PM
Cosmo Landesman
Sunday Times (UK)
Ratings Image

Even performances as good as these can't totally transcend material that hovers between near farce and tragi-comedy without ever landing on a convincing level.

Full Review | Comment
01/26/07 08:08 AM
Derek Malcolm
This is London
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When all else fails, get the pensioners to swear.

Full Review | Comment
01/26/07 07:47 AM
Anthony Quinn
Independent
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You never know – it might just be eighth time lucky for the old dog come the Oscars.

Full Review | Comment
01/26/07 07:31 AM
Johnny Vaughan
Sun Online
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Although a little contrived in places, and with some dialogue that probably looked better on the page, this is still enjoyable fare that proves there’s plenty of life in the old dogs yet.

Full Review | Comment
01/26/07 07:17 AM
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]
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Not even O'Toole can salvage this script.

Full Review | Comment
01/26/07 06:54 AM
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]
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A gentle, funny and melancholy look at the ravages of age and time, with an irresistible star performance at its heart. Oscar prospects, surely?

Full Review | Comment
01/26/07 06:35 AM
Philip Kemp
Total Film
Ratings Image

He's got his Oscar nomination, but, if we might politely ask, how much of a stretch can it really be for Peter O'Toole to play a saucy old lush again?

Full Review | Comment
01/26/07 05:02 AM
Daily Telegraph
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This is an indulgent movie and needs to be watched in the same spirit.

Full Review | Comment
01/26/07 03:27 AM
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
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O’Toole is a lecherous marvel, and worth every ounce of his Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

Full Review | Comment
01/26/07 02:40 AM
James Christopher
Times [UK]
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Ratings Image

The brilliant O'Toole shows you're never too old to have a go, while Kureishi and Michell add another idiosyncratic work to their creative double act.

Full Review | Comment
01/26/07 02:33 AM
Demetrios Matheou
Channel 4 Film
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Who could be better suited than Peter O'Toole to the role of an actor growing old disgracefully?

Full Review | Comment
01/26/07 02:18 AM
Stella Papamichael
BBC
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The lingering impressions here are of regret, resignation and renewal, the fascination of firm flesh and O’Toole growling ‘Come on, old man!’ as he slaps his own sagging face.

Full Review | Comment
01/26/07 02:15 AM
Ben Walters
Time Out
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A screen-acting showcase by a man whose best days, many thought, were behind him. There’s life in the old dog yet.

Full Review | Comment
01/25/07 10:48 AM
Alan Morrison
Empire Magazine
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Ratings Image

An affirmation of pleasure and generous-mindedness as well as credible takes on the different aches of adolescence and senescence.

Full Review | Comment
10/28/06 04:51 AM
Ben Walters
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Witty dialog and a strong story keep it thoroughly entertaining, as do the sparky performances.

Full Review | Comment
10/28/06 04:51 AM
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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