HTF REVIEW: VENUS

That famous quotation could easily relate to Peter O’Toole’s aged actor in Roger Michell’s Venus. And how fortunate for that character that there’s an interesting, misguided young woman in his sphere who can benefit from that momentary glow. The story of two lost souls, one old and one young, has been told before (Chaplin’s Limelight comes immediately to mind), but Venus makes its own case to be seen and heard.

Maurice Russell (O’Toole) is an elderly actor who’s still making a living guest starring in small roles in television shows and films. His best friend Ian (Leslie Philips), another actor, is in indigent health and requires live-in help. A relative sends him Jessie (Jodie Whitaker), an ill-informed, self-interested young girl whose coarse manner is horrifying to the quiet Ian. To give Ian some peace and because he becomes infatuated with the girl’s vitality and cheekiness, Maurice initiates a series of outings with her including visiting museums, letting her serve as his assistant on the set, and taking her to the theater and to clubs. He even finds her day work as an artist’s model. But Jessie is a young girl who craves adventure and has a short attention span, and the mature Maurice can’t hold her interest for very long.

Hanif Kureishi’s screenplay jumps about a bit too much with its small cast of characters, and it’s sometimes unclear how much time is actually passing. But he’s written rich character roles for his three leading players while perhaps stinting a bit on a couple of others who would seem to be equally fascinating. One in particular, Maurice’s ex-wife (played by Vanessa Redgrave) might have been a leading character in another story. I certainly wanted to know a lot more about her.

O’Toole notches another memorable portrayal to add to his ever-growing gallery of great characters. His frailty mixed with the intoxication of his infatuation is one of the most unusual leading man performances in years. And Leslie Phillips is his equal as the persnickety Ian. He can throw barbs offhandedly with the best of them (losing none of his comic timing from his years in the British Carry On film series). Constantly stuffing her face with all manner of junk food, Jodie Whitaker is a real find as the title character, Maurice’s pet name for Jessie. Seeing her learn some things about the world and eventually coming to value a human life other than her own makes for a lovely revelatory performance. Vanessa Redgrave has but three scenes in the film, and she makes the most of them as the invalid ex-wife.

Michell’s direction is effortless as he glides his camera around parts of London that don’t often get glimpsed on film. A quiet waltz between Ian and Maurice, Maurice taking the stage of an amphitheater hearing the echoes of his past performances there, and a lilting moment at the beach are three wonderfully executed sequences which impress without undue flashiness.

Venus is a small story but a quietly enjoyable one.



The film’s 1.85:1 aspect ratio is presented in anamorphic video. The film was shot mostly in 16mm with a few scenes in 35mm, and the use of these varying gauges helps one understand the variable levels of sharpness and grain in the picture. The sharpness is slightly above average, but the color is subdued in many scenes. However, black level is quite good with some impressive shadow detail. No artifacts mar the picture, however, and it’s always imminently watchable. The film has been divided into 15 chapters.



The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack emphasizes the front channels. As the film is more talk than action oriented, the rear channels get little use except for occasional ambient sounds. Surprisingly, with trains passing by and the crashing of the waves during the ocean sequences, there is some bass activity, but the sound design could have been fuller throughout.



The disc features an audio commentary track with director Roger Michell and producer Kevin Loader offering subdued comments on the making of the film, the performances, their relationships with the actors, the various locations, and the weather. There are some gaps in the dialog between the men as they get mesmerized by what O’Toole is doing on the screen and forget to talk. Still, it’s a worthwhile listen especially as the “making of” documentary is rather sparse. This commentary fills in many holes.

“Venus: A Real Work of Art” is the 13½ minute featurette on the making of the picture. Its most interesting feature is some glimpses of Jodie Whitaker’s screen test which allows us to see her building on her character from test to finished scene in the film. There are also comments from O’Toole and Phillips on their delight in finding worthy material to act at this stage in their careers.

Four deleted scenes presented in non-anamorphic letterbox are also included in the special features section. The scenes only last a combined total of four minutes, so nothing vital has been lost, though one scene with Vanessa Redgrave on the street would have given this great actress another scene in the film, brief as it would have been

The DVD also features some trailers for other Disney/Miramax features including The Queen, Ratatouille, and Renaissance. The trailer for Venus is not included.



It’s rare that a great actor like Peter O’Toole gets a role worthy of his gifts at this late stage in his career. Venus gives this legendary performer another role to show us yet again why he’s considered one of the greats.


Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC