Age of Consent

R

Released May 14, 1969

1 hr. 39 min.

Drama

List

100%

9 Reviews

Tomatometer

48%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

A New York artist (James Mason) goes to an island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef and hires a girl (Helen Mirren) to be his model.

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Discover G

Good acting and set-ups but ultimately falls short of making a lasting impression

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

05/26/23

Full Review

jeff c

Great acting, wonderful story, beautiful scenery, and you get to see Helen Mirren nude back when she was a hottie!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I loved this film. The great James Mason has the worst Australian accent ever committed to celluloid (at one point it becomes South African), but it doesn't matter. The gorgeous locations on Australia's Barrier Reef, and the strange tone throughout - by turns farcical and tender - make this the stuff of cult cinema. There are echoes of Mason's Humbert Humbert in his relationship with a very young Helen Mirren, and a very funny turn by Jack McGowran as Mason's parasitic pal. Terrific.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A look at a time gone by and age of innocence with beautiful scenery of the Queensland reef. Helen Mirren stunning.Very watchable

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

kyle v

Reviewed 10.10.17. Michael Powell directed one of my all-time favorite movies, Stairway to Heaven (A Matter of Life and Death). That movie is everything this movie is not. It was original, charming and romantic. Age of Consent is boring, distasteful and skeevy. I get that in 1969 a joke about a man being raped, or a grandpa aged leading man having a teenage love interest, was socially acceptable in some circles. And for entertainment's sake, that could be looked past, if the movie had anything else to offer. But the supporting roles are all horribly overacted caricatures. The plot is paper thin. The only interest is watching Helen Mirren in her first role. But even that wears thin as they apparently thought showing her breasts through a wet shirt in practically every scene was her greatest asset. Glad she proved them wrong over her distinguished career. All this movie proved is even talented directors can misfire, and that people could be particularly gross in 1969. Seems one star is the lowest rating, so let's say a 1/2 star each for the cute dog, and the appealing setting.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Director Michael Powell's final film follows on the heels of his previous Australian venture (They're a Weird Mob, 1966) moving from Sydney up to Brisbane and North Queensland. It stars James Mason (with tenuous accent) as an Australian painter who leaves New York to return to his roots on a remote tropical island near the Great Barrier Reef. Although he's burnt out, the relaxed environment starts to bring back his creative streak. A cheeky teenager (played by young Helen Mirren) soon becomes his muse; Mirren spends a lot of the movie in a state of undress as a result. This is a bit jarring if you only know her from Prime Suspect and her late career superstardom (possibly Calendar Girls, 2006, which I haven't seen, brings things full circle). Similarly to Weird Mob, there's a bit of comic relief here as well, poking fun at Aussie stereotypes and slang, when Mason's insufferable friend Nat Kelly (Jack MacGowran) comes to visit and gets into trouble. But overall the tone is laid back, as if the gentle rhythm of the waves was setting the pace of the picture. Plenty of shots of the lush locations and underwater photography of the reef do not disappoint. Mason ultimately gets his mojo back, although the May-September romance that eventuates does have an ick factor. The paintings on display don't strike me as particularly notable but an early shot of a Sidney Nolan artbook suggests that Powell does have better taste. It's a shame (after his masterworks with Pressburger) that his career ground completely to a halt after this, due to lack of funding, aged 64.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

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Michael Powell

Director

James Mason

Bradley Morahan

Helen Mirren

Cora Ryan

Jack MacGowran

Nat Kelly

Neva Carr-Glyn

Ma Ryan

Frank Thring

Godfrey

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Variety Staff

Variety

The picture has immense charm and the actual photography (particularly underwater scenes) and superb scenery make it a good travelog ad for the Great Barrier Reef area where most of it was filmed.

Sep 17, 2015

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

A lovely, erotic, and idyllic comedy.

Oct 18, 2008

Full Review

Tony Rayns

Time Out

There are some nervous insertions of redundant comic relief, but not enough to shatter the prevailing mood: brilliant sunlight illuminating all the unmomentous ins and outs of a human passion.

Oct 18, 2008

Full Review

Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

Some painfully broad supporting comic turns aside, it’s a pleasant, picturesque divertissement.

Feb 13, 2023

Full Review

Roger Moore

Movie Nation

A fine, lightweight curtain call...It isn’t “The Red Shoes,” but even the great Michael Powell could only manage one or two those.

Rated: 3/4

Dec 26, 2022

Full Review

Felix Gonzalez Jr.

DVD Review

Age of Consent is never as provocative or engrossing as it should be, but there is enough of interest (especially Mirren) to make it worth a look.

Feb 9, 2009

Full Review

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Synopsis

A New York artist (James Mason) goes to an island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef and hires a girl (Helen Mirren) to be his model.

Director: Michael Powell
Production Co: Nautilus Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 14, 1969, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 1, 2010

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