VENUS
*** out of *****

Reviewed by Finger_of_DOOM

Screening in the 2007 New Zealand International Film Festival
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Genres
Comedy
Drama
Romance
2006
Directed by Roger Mitchell
Written by Hanif Kureishi
Cast
Peter O'Toole - Maurice
Leslie Phillips - Ian
Jodie Whittaker - Jessie
Vanessa Redgrave - Valerie
Richard Griffiths - Donald

Before the Oscar nominations came out and before I had heard of the film Venus and what it was about I remember a friend and I giving the film’s theatrical poster a lot of shit for being quite possibly one of the worst posters ever! Peter O’Toole looked like he was encased in plastic and seemed to resemble a not-so-evil looking Mason Verger (The deformed character from the 2001 film Hannibal played by Gary Oldman). What were the marketing people at Miramax thinking? We were sure that whatever the film was about it must suck, and luckily we don’t have to look at that horrid poster design anymore as the DVD case features much better cover art and as the saying goes “never judge a book by its cover” or in this case film by its poster.

Venus tells the story of an aging actor Maurice (O’Toole), Maurice spends his time with his dear friend and fellow actor Ian (Leslie Phillips). Their days are spent sharing pills, engaging in conversation about their various ailments and infirmities among other things. Ian, close to death, decides to let his niece, Jessie (Jodie Whittaker) stay with him in order to look after him. Ian grows to regret this decision because she can’t seem to do anything right for him, plus she drinks, smokes and goes out late. However Maurice takes a liking to her, a girl fifty years younger.

Venus was nothing like I expected; my preconceived notion was that this film was a melodrama about an inappropriate relationship between an old man and a much younger girl. What it actually turned out to be was a lighthearted dramady about an inappropriate relationship between an old man and a much younger girl. The tone of the film made it somewhat more accessible event though the subject matter is uncomfortable for most people (let’s get this out of the way now so we don’t dwell on it, this relationship does not get physical). The script also included some rather humorous moments especially between Maurice and Ian and the surprising use of the word ‘cunt’ on more than one occasion, I never though I’d ever hear Peter O’Toole utter that word in such a comfortable fashion, then again he is English (pardon…Irish) and they certainly do love that word.

Subject matter aside, some people may in fact also be drawn away by the occasionally slow pace of the film and the fact that it contains a lot of scenes where people talk…and that’s all they do! I know how crazy is that? (in case you missed it, that was sarcasm), some audiences with a short attention span may find themselves drifting if subjected to this film, so please ensure that you do in fact like lighthearted British films otherwise this film is certainly not for you. While the target demographic for this film may in fact be aimed at the older spectrum, I certainly enjoyed the film (And I’m in my twenties) and it was made all the more enjoyable by the wonderful performance by the legend himself Peter O’Toole, who deservedly received his eighth Oscar nomination for this performance. O’Toole manages to flex his chops even at the age of 74. The supporting cast is equally impressive, Leslie Phillips makes a wonderful appearance as Ian, a moaning-always-complaining fellow that’s Maurice’s best friend. These two make as memorable buddies as Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau did in The Odd Couple (1968).

While the film is certainly enjoyable I found that the female lead, Jessie, played by newcomer Jodie Whittaker was not entirely what I expected and that’s mainly due to how the character was written. Jessie is a provincial girl who is rude, generally ill-mannered, lazy (at times), drinks and smokes heavily and also possess the most unattractive quality any woman can possess…a Northern English accent. In Roman mythology the God Venus represented love, beauty and fertility and while the character Jessie may have represented love and fertility I hardly saw her as something beautiful, or at least attractive. Beauty may be subjective but in film-land if you want someone to represent beauty then it might be best to actually write the character in way that can best be described as being ‘generally attractive’. It’s understood that it’s what she represents and not how she acts that attracts Maurice, but I still find myself needing another reason why Maurice would pursue her, other than the fact he’d pursue just about any girl that would give him the time of day (considering his age).

Venus is slow in parts and if you’re not into it you will likely fall asleep. But if you’re able to make it past the 30-minute mark you’ll realize that it’s a non-complicated approach at telling a story about the age gap and dirty old men, with something to occasionally laugh at plus it has some fine performances.

This film will screen in Wellington at The Embassy Theatre on July 20 at 1:15pm and July 22 at 6:15pm, it will also screen at The Penthouse on July 23 at 6:15pm.

Please refer to the Film Fest homepage for more information on screenings in other parts of the country.

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