Venus film review

certificate_15

VENUS

The poster for Venus depicts the wide-eyed stare and gaunt face of Peter O'Toole. He may look very different from the beautiful young man who galloped into stardom astride a camel in Lawrence Of Arabia more than forty years ago, but his charisma and talent have lost none of their luster. His moving, mischievous performance in Venus ranks alongside his best work, helped by a wonderful script and some stellar support, most notably from Vanessa Redgrave.

A touching tale of an ageing actor in failing health whose relationship with a much younger girl stirs the last flickering sexual embers of a once glowing fire, Venus is as funny as it is tender. Deftly written by Hanif Kureishi, whose impressive credits include My Beautiful Laundrette and The Buddha Of Suburbia, it's the type of material that could be wrung out for all its sentimentality, but Venus shows admirable restraint and a healthy irreverence for old age and death.

Once a mildly successful actor, Maurice's (Peter O'Toole) star has dimmed with old age and he's reduced to small roles playing the decrepit and occasionally deceased. Faced with the prospect of prostate surgery, his days are spent listening to the medical woes of his grouchy best friend Ian (a terrific Leslie Phillips) and reminiscing about their past days in the theatre. When Ian's 19 year-old grand niece Jessie (Jodie Whittaker) moves down to stay with him at his London flat, her arrival is welcomed more by Maurice than Ian who resents her disruptive presence.

The uncouth and uneducated Jessie is from another world to the intellectual and artistic Maurice. In London to find a job, she takes up Maurice's offer of work doing nude modeling at an art school. His lecherous attempts to spy on her result in one of Venus' broader scenes. The pair forge an unlikely friendship. His interest in her is all too obvious while she finds herself both repulsed and intrigued by his attention. His frequent and hopeful advances are usually rejected, though she does tease him with the occasional intimate morsel.