Iris

Audience Reviews

View All (455) audience reviews

KB B This was such a sad and moving film. The acting was very good. It's worth the watch but can be intense. 3.5 stars Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/01/23 Full Review jona i Excellent performances in this intriguing character scope Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Judi Dench, Kate Winslet, and Jim Broadbent star together based on the 1999 memoir English author Iris Murdoch was one of the most celebrated writers in Britain She graduated from Oxford and had a very libertine spirit Iris later became a philosopher and a novelist with her husband John Bailey The story contrasts the start of their relationship, when Murdoch was an outgoing, dominant individual compared to the timid and scholarly Bayley, and their later life, when Murdoch was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and tended to by a frustrated Bayley in their North Oxford home in Charlbury Road It's a solid drama no doubt and Dench, Broadbent, and Winslet lead the film with their committed performances But the whole thing feels like a depressing emotional roller coaster A lot of the editing is jarring going from this couples youth to their senior years Might actually bring some viewers' spirits down given how much Iris and her husband go through given her condition Not a very joyful experience but the actors are trying their hardest as any couple leaving an illustrious career behind while battling internal problems Doesn't hold much replay value but this couple makes it bearable Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review jordan m This is the type of quiet movie with little enough actual plot or anything else going on that it allows itself to be carried on the strength of its cast's acting prowess, and they had it in spades here. Not only did Broadbent firmly deserve his Oscar win, doing more with his star vehicle than Ben Kingsley did with Sexy Beast, the rest of the cast (particularly the young versions) were only a few steps behind him. Bonneville seemed to be playing a young version of Broadbent himself rather than John Bayley and did a really entertaining job of it; if Broadbent had been moved to the Best Actor category I would've liked to have seen Bonneville nominated for his performance. Winslet did great in a stripped down sort of way (pun intended; she wore plain clothes & no makeup when she had any on at all) but I actually wasn't enamored with Judi's performance. I think the problem was more with the lines she was given but ultimately I didn't find her portrayal of Alzheimer's particularly believable. I'm happy to have seen this even if its primary redeeming quality was Broadbent being an absolute legend. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member You cannot trust the critics without knowing their age. A young-ish person, say 40 and under, would have a very different take on this movie than someone 65+. At 74, I understood and appreciated the story, the acting (of course), the makeup, and the poor housekeeping that plagued them in their later years. I didn't identify with the characters, but I understood what they were feeling and experiencing. As a result, it deeply hit home. The Alzheimer's that eventually took Iris is always a fear to an older person. I think an older critic would appreciate this stellar movie much more than a recent college graduate with a degree in English. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review steve d Not an easy watch but the performances make it worth it. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Iris

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Most Popular at Home Now