“I’m impotent, of course, but I can still take a theoretical interest.”
Screen legend Peter O’Toole proves that he still has the acting talent of his younger years and got another chance to win “the lovely bugger outright” in the Oscar race. Unfortunately, it was a repeat of his 1980 race with Robert De Niro.
Maurice (Peter O’Toole) and Ian (Leslie Phillips) are a pair of elderly thespians that gather at a local coffee shop to talk about work (or lack thereof) and gobble their pills every morning. Ian is in a cheery mood because his niece’s daughter is coming to stay with him and he envisions having a nurse, maid, and cook all rolled into one. What he gets is another vision all together – a vision of hell. All Ian’s new visitor Jessie (Jodie Whittaker) wants to do is lay around the house, drink up all his booze, and generally annoy Ian with her lack of nursing, cleaning, and cooking skills.
However, Maurice takes a lecherous shine to the girl and wants to try and draw some of her youth by his feeble attempts at wooing her. At first she just sees a dirty old man, but then sees an opportunity to benefit financially from the horny old goat who is unable to follow through on his sexual thoughts. So she begins to give him little favors, like holding hands, in exchange for his financial support.
So this May-December relationship continues on based upon the need (both emotional and financial) of the participants, but as such things based upon such things go the end might not be what either party is looking for.
I must give you full disclosure before going on because I’m a big Peter O’Toole fan (no fat jokes please!). I was holding out hope that St. Pete would walk away with the Oscar because of sentimental reasons (he won an honorary one the year before), but after watching Venus I think that it might’ve been a repeat of the 1981 Oscars where his delightfully mad Eli Cross lost out to Robert De Niro’s Jake LaMotta. O’Toole was playing a version of himself and De Niro actually became LaMotta. I think this dynamic was repeated with Venus and King of Scotland.
Now don’t take that as an indictment of O’Toole’s performance in Venus, he is fabulous. What I wonder is if his excellent performance is in a picture that is a little too creepy. To see the 74-year-old man attempt to “seduce” the 19-year-old might be a bit off-putting, but sympathizing with his quest for his lost youth by vicariously attempting a chaste romance (thanks to his prostate troubles) may also give you a slight trepidation too.
The object of his affection is not exactly the idyllic Venus of the painting but a low, foul-mouthed guttersnipe of a girl who is just fine with using Maurice as her sugar daddy. Jodie Whittaker was savaged in some reviews of the film that I saw, but I found her performance very good for a first-timer. I think that her character however is very easy to hate especially in the first part of the film because she is as hideous as Ian describes her.
The 83-year-old Leslie Phillips is excellent as well as Vanessa Redgrave as Maurice’s ex-wife. The scenes with O’Toole and these pros (and friends) are also a highlight of the film. If anything we can thank Venus for a career revival for O’Toole and helping getting more of his classic films to DVD (MPI has released Becket from the vaults recently). Peter O’Toole gives a grand performance as the ailing Maurice, but it was Forest Whitaker who walked away with the gold.
It was sad to see him lose, but I can see how the dynamic I outlined above came into play. In an odd way, he wins either say since this loss makes him go down in the history books as the individual to have been nominated most and not win an Oscar, beating out his old chum Richard Burton. The film reminds us too much of our approaching mortality and the last grasps of an aging thespian and I can see how it might turn some off, but it’s the performance of O’Toole that you should seek the film out for.
Venus is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a commentary by director Roger Michell and producer Kevin Loader. What is somewhat disappointing is that O’Toole, a fine storyteller, is not given a commentary track.
The 13 minute “Venus, A Real Work of Art” is next and interviews writer Hanif Kureishi, director Michell, producer Loader, Peter O’Toole, Leslie Phillips, and Jodie Whittaker. Next are 4 minutes of deleted scenes and the best of which is a short scene between O’Toole and Redgrave.
A fine performance by Peter O’Toole and the elder members of the cast make it a film to see out and see for their acting prowess. The thoughts of the elderly Maurice drooling over the teenage girl might turn off some audiences, but what you’ll want to see is O’Toole “strut and fret across the stage.” It is a delightful performance that should hopefully lead to a renaissance in this great actor’s career.
Venus is now available at Amazon . It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a July 23rd release. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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