Scan and Pan
Monday, January 29, 2007
Venus
Maurice and Ian are elderly actors and good friends. When Ian's twentyish great-niece, Jessie, comes to work for him, Maurice begins to take an interest in her and finds himself falling in love with her, despite the vast age difference and her lack of sophistication.
While the premise of this sometimes bittersweet romantic comedy with touches of Pygmalion isn't very original, the execution of it by screenwriter Hanif Kureishi (My Beautiful Laundrette) is high quality. It exhibits razor sharp dialogue and strong characters, and is sparkling with wit, but it's not all sweetness and light. Director Roger Michell (Notting Hill) shows a deft touch with the material, achieving a good balance of comedy and drama, while creating a polished film that doesn't put style for the sake of style above the story and getting excellent performances from his cast.
The soft, low key cinematography of Haris Zambarloukos (The Best Man) complements the story quite nicely, capturing the drabness of the main characters' lives. The score by David Arnold (Casino Royale) is top notch, and the songs by Corinne Bailey Rae are also good.
Peter O'Toole is absolutely masterful as Maurice, exhibiting charm and grace that remain even when his character is being a dirty old man. He moves effortlessly between comedy and drama, and takes what could be a somewhat unlikable character and makes us like him. The performance has earned him his eighth Oscar nomination for Best Actor, now we'll see if it becomes his first win. His performance is certainly good enough to merit a golden statue.
O'Toole is surprisingly well-matched by young actress Jodie Whittaker, making her film debut, who is very believable as a sullen, unsophisticated young woman torn between expanding her horizons and taking advantage of an older man's interest for her own selfish reasons. Leslie Phillips is also outstanding as Ian, and his character's friendship with Maurice is touching and even hilarious at times. Vanessa Redgrave is strong in a smaller role as the wife Maurice abandoned years ago. Last but not least, Richard Griffiths has some good scenes as a friend of Maurice and Ian.
The strength of Venus is seeing veteran actors like O'Toole, Phillips, and Redgrave working their magic with a well-written screenplay that gives them some great characters to bring to life. Recommended.
This is one of the most enjoyable romantic comedies I've seen in a long time and one of the better films of 2006.
Maurice and Ian are elderly actors and good friends. When Ian's twentyish great-niece, Jessie, comes to work for him, Maurice begins to take an interest in her and finds himself falling in love with her, despite the vast age difference and her lack of sophistication.
While the premise of this sometimes bittersweet romantic comedy with touches of Pygmalion isn't very original, the execution of it by screenwriter Hanif Kureishi (My Beautiful Laundrette) is high quality. It exhibits razor sharp dialogue and strong characters, and is sparkling with wit, but it's not all sweetness and light. Director Roger Michell (Notting Hill) shows a deft touch with the material, achieving a good balance of comedy and drama, while creating a polished film that doesn't put style for the sake of style above the story and getting excellent performances from his cast.
The soft, low key cinematography of Haris Zambarloukos (The Best Man) complements the story quite nicely, capturing the drabness of the main characters' lives. The score by David Arnold (Casino Royale) is top notch, and the songs by Corinne Bailey Rae are also good.
Peter O'Toole is absolutely masterful as Maurice, exhibiting charm and grace that remain even when his character is being a dirty old man. He moves effortlessly between comedy and drama, and takes what could be a somewhat unlikable character and makes us like him. The performance has earned him his eighth Oscar nomination for Best Actor, now we'll see if it becomes his first win. His performance is certainly good enough to merit a golden statue.
O'Toole is surprisingly well-matched by young actress Jodie Whittaker, making her film debut, who is very believable as a sullen, unsophisticated young woman torn between expanding her horizons and taking advantage of an older man's interest for her own selfish reasons. Leslie Phillips is also outstanding as Ian, and his character's friendship with Maurice is touching and even hilarious at times. Vanessa Redgrave is strong in a smaller role as the wife Maurice abandoned years ago. Last but not least, Richard Griffiths has some good scenes as a friend of Maurice and Ian.
The strength of Venus is seeing veteran actors like O'Toole, Phillips, and Redgrave working their magic with a well-written screenplay that gives them some great characters to bring to life. Recommended.
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