Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3939 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-07-23
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 92 minutes

Synopsis
Screen legend Peter O'Toole stars in this moving story of an elderly actor and his somewhat questionable relationship with a teenage girl. Maurice (O'Toole) and his friend Ian (Leslie Phillips) are two classy curmudgeons whiling away their hours in coffee shops and at the theatre, but their routine is thrown for a loop when Ian's niece's daughter Jessie (Jodie Whittaker) is sent from the country to act as his nurse. Jessie shows up on the scene sullen and pouty, immediately drinking all the liquor in the house and slouching her way from room to room. But Maurice befriends her, taking her to museums and getting her a gig as an art model, and along the way he openly expresses the lust she has awakened in him. Jessie's brash rejections of his affections are at first as amusing as they are awkward. When she starts to allow him small pleasures--like kissing her bare shoulders or caressing her hands--the film enters into some uncomfortable, complicated territory, but it is deftly navigated by Hanif Kureishi's sharp screenplay, and O'Toole's heartbreaking performance.

VENUS is in many ways a quiet film, shot mainly in tiny shops and in Ian's musty apartment, and it often relies on single shots of O'Toole's weary blue eyes to convey the many complexities within the story. Far from just a tale of a May-December romance, VENUS is a very raw look at growing old, and the aches and pains, both emotional and physical, that accompany a man near the end of his life. It is an honest, moving portrait of human desire, and how it can both beat us down and lift us up--no matter the age.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic
This film is amazing. The acting is superb and story very moving. It manages to be happy, sad, funny and uplifting all at once. The 'disturbing' moments work and are integral to the story. I choose to look at it as rather than him being a dirty old man, he's just the same man he always was, a womaniser, in an old body. Wonderful, a must see.

Disappointing, Dreary and Dismal
I am so glad I watched this film whilst doing the ironing - at least I did not completely waste my time! Generally I love films which deal with difficult subjects, especially those that provoke discussion etc. Venus however just made my skin crawl, Peter O'Toole, Phillips and Redgrave are all fine actors and gave great performances. But the main theme of the film - a grandfather who falls in love with his friend's very young (but legal!) niece is sleazy and uncomfortable to watch. Jesse/Venus is sent to London to look after her uncle (Phillips) It transpires that her mother has forced her to have an abortion and she is portrayed as a difficult yet typical forthright young northen woman. O'Tool finds her captivating and begins a friendship/ seduction which results in her: posing as a semi-nude model for his art class, allowing him to spend time with her, touch her hand/kiss her neck/try to lick/smell vaginal fluid from her fingers and see her breasts; in return for these "perks" he buys her things (earrings, dress, tattoo) In some ways the film seems to be challenging us to ask who is exploiting who: Jesse/Venus is very young and in many ways unworldly, has no job, is apparently not welcome to return to her northern maternal home, appears to have very few choices other than stay with her uncle and act as his carer(apparently unpaid)and the O'Toole character is a man of the world! who seems to be very well aware of what a few trinkets/treats and a bit of attention can do for a pretty girl with poor self esteem and even less hope. Yes he genuinely seems to care for her and more so than anyone else in her sad life but and its a big but he would also like to feel her boobs etc.(yuk)
Now you might be liberal enough to be asking the question at this point in the film "so whats the harm in making an old man's last few days a little happier, especially if he is nice to you and buys you stuff?" Well my answer to this question is, that this so called "May to December love affair" was a short step off paedophile grooming, and it was gruesome to watch. The best bit about the film for me was the way in which O'Toole and Phillips resembled a retired/aging Withnail and I, their scenes together were funny and wry - great dialogue and good acting but the rest of the film was in my view awful because the difficult issues of sexuality/boundaries and consent were not handled sensitively or effectively. The message we are left with seems to be that it is ok for old men to "perv" after young women and its ok for young women to be sexually exploited as long as they get nice stuff and that it is their role to care for men (unpaid) until they die.

A gentle comedy drama, some some fine performances
Maurice (Peter O'Toole) is either a dirty old pervert or an elderly man who happens to fall for a young woman 50 years his junior, Jessie (Jodie Whittaker), who's the great niece of his best friend Ian (Leslie Phillips), I personally think that it's the latter of the 2 scenarios.

Peter O'Toole is simply wonderful, he and the excellent Jodie Whittaker work superbly together, considering the age gap and what else goes on in the film I did not feel freaked out or repulsed by what I was watching, it was simply 2 people who in their own way had feelings for one another.

Leslie Phillips is as charming as ever, plus there's good support from both Richard Griffiths and Vanessa Redgrave, sadly though neither of them were used much which is a shame.

I've been looking forwards to watching this for sometime and I'm glad I've added this film to my collection, a simple and effective British comedy drama with a good storyline with some good humour too.