Themes: Age Disparity Romance, Golden Years, Existential Crisis
Main Cast: Peter O'Toole, Leslie Phillips, Jodie Whittaker, Richard Griffiths, Vanessa Redgrave
Release Year: 2006
Country: UK
Run Time: 94 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
An aging pair of veteran English actors whose success never quite took hold finds their quiet existence suddenly interrupted by the arrival of one of the men's precocious grandnieces in director Roger Michell's affectionate comedy drama. Maurice (Peter O'Toole) and Ian (Leslie Phillips) may still land the occasional paying gig -- Maurice has recently been cast as a corpse in a popular television drama -- but for the most part, their days are spent cataloging their ailments over meals at their favorite café. Though the arrival of Ian's grandniece Jessie doesn't immediately set so well with her curmudgeonly great uncle, Maurice takes an immediate liking to the girl, and makes it a mission to expose the youngster to some of the bustling capitol's best-known sights. As the newly invigorated septuagenarian does his best to teach the wide-eyed youngster a thing or two about life, he soon comes to realize just how little he truly knows about the subject at such a late point in life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Review
For anyone who thought Peter O'Toole might have died around the same time as other British thespians like Alec Guinness and John Gielgud (who are actually decades his senior), Venus returns quite the opposite verdict. In fact, O'Toole -- who has worked steadily in secondary roles and minor films -- is so effective here, he was the sentimental favorite to finally win his first Oscar, which eventually went to Forest Whitaker. Had it happened, it would have been no mere token of respect. What's so thrilling about his work in Venus, the story of an aged actor utterly bedeviled by a girl barely out of her teens (Jodie Whittaker), is just how creepy he's willing to be. The brilliant balancing act of his performance is that he's not merely a lifelong ladies' man who refuses to retire. He's also a real letch, pursuing a girl young enough to be his granddaughter. Not only does he know and embrace this, but he manages to make the audience forgive and actually laugh with him -- even though he might come across as a pedophile under a different lens. Thankfully, Roger Michell's film is not the story of a bitter fight against aging, which would have been too obvious by half. It's the story of a man who doesn't even consider age an impediment to his desires, and is somehow liberated by that fact. This isn't to say O'Toole's Maurice doesn't have his share of pathetic episodes -- they just aren't tied exclusively to the fact that he's a septuagenarian perv. In the film's other key performance, Whittaker goes toe to toe with O'Toole. She's especially effective in gradually revealing Jessie's erotic magnetism, seeming anything but enchanting in her first scene, as she lies about on the couch spitting vitriol at her elders. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Emma Macdevitt - Art Director, Fiona Weir - Casting, Natalie Ward - Costume Designer, Barrie McCulloch - First Assistant Director, Roger Michell - Director, Nicolas Gaster - Editor, Scott Rudin - Executive Producer, Tessa Ross - Executive Producer, Charles Moore - Executive Producer, Sally Caplan - Executive Producer, Daniel Battsek - Executive Producer, Miles Ketley - Executive Producer, Rosa Romero - Line Producer, David Arnold - Composer (Music Score), Corinne Bailey Rae - Composer (Music Score), John Paul Kelly - Production Designer, Haris Zambarloukos - Cinematographer, Kevin Loader - Producer, Danny Hambrook - Sound/Sound Designer, Hanif Kureishi - Screenwriter, Tim Alban - Re-Recording Mixer, Peter Baldock - Supervising Sound Editor, Sophie Phillips - Set Decorator
The plot concerns Maurice (Peter O'Toole), an elderly actor who finds himself increasingly attracted to his friend Ian's great-niece Jessie (Jodie Whittaker) while simultaneously finding himself in deteriorating health due to prostate cancer. Maurice's friend describes the great-niece as a trouble maker and a nuisance, but Maurice discovers that Jessie warms up to him when he starts interacting with her. He takes her to the National Gallery in London, England to view his favourite painting, The Rokeby Venus by the Spanish artist Velázquez. Jessie had expressed interest in modeling (Maurice initially mis-hears this as "yodeling") and Maurice arranges for Jessie to model nude for an art class. As a result of Jessie posing for the art class, and inspired by his favourite painting, Maurice decides to give Jessie the nickname "Venus". Maurice and Jessie develop a passive/aggressive relationship over the course of the film. Maurice is forward in terms of his attraction toward Jessie while Jessie occasionally indulges his whims to a limited extent, such as touching her hand and smelling her neck, but also retracts the indulgences when she feels that he has gone too far. The plot of the film revolves around the evolving friendship or relationship between the two characters. For Maurice, this appears to be the last attempt at something approaching a love life, as his prostate operation has left him impotent. For Jessie, it is less clear what she sees in Maurice. During the course of the film we see her do everything from exploiting him (trying to get him to buy her presents, trying to use his flat to have sex with a boy), taking care of him, flirting with him, and rejecting him sexually to engaging with him as a friend. During the course of the film we learn that she has been rejected by her mother and great-uncle for her promiscuous life style; it is implied that she is drawn to Maurice because he doesn't judge her as harshly as her family members have.
The plot comes to a head when Jessie becomes involved with a boy. The two young lovers convince Maurice to take a walk so that they can have sex. Maurice initially obliges the request, but returns to kick them out of his flat. A scuffle ensues and Jessie knocks down Maurice, injuring him. Jessie leaves with the boy and apparently spends the night out partying with him at clubs, later returning to check on Maurice. When the paramedics arrive, Maurice claims he can't remember who attacked him, much to Jessie's surprise. Then Maurice calls for "Venus" to take care of him. Jessie, remorseful, agrees to look after Maurice. Some time later, after Maurice has at least partly recovered, he takes Jessie to the seaside at Whitstable in Kent. As they sit down by the water Maurice says to Jessie "Now, we can really talk," and dies, leaning on her.
O'Toole's Oscar nomination marked his eighth Best Actor nomination over a span of forty-five years.[3] However, on February 25, 2007, at the 79th Academy Awards, he was bested by Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), making O'Toole's eight nominations without victory a record.
