Venus

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Venus

R

2006

1h 35m

Drama

Romance

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

152 Reviews

74%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Maurice (Peter O'Toole) and Ian (Leslie Phillips) are veteran British actors who share a friendship and comfortable routines into their 70s. The arrival of Ian's grandniece, Jessie (Jodie Whittaker), shakes things up for the two old friends. Ian has no patience with the young woman, but Maurice finds her enchanting. He wants to show Jessie the sights and teach her about life, then realizes how little he actually knows.

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Critics Consensus

Audiences may attend to witness Peter O'Toole's Oscar-worthy performance, but they'll also be treated to a humane, tender exploration of maturing with both dignity and irreverence.

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Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out

02/03/2007

2/6

If only [director] Michell's film actually said something about aging, and didn't feel the need to include Grumpy Old Men shtick and bland bossa nova-inflected pop.

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Stephanie Zacharek

Salon.com

02/03/2007

Venus belongs to O'Toole. This is, hands down, my favorite performance of the year, largely because I love the way O'Toole (and the filmmakers) refuse to yield to the all-too-pervasive idea that it's 'icky' for old people to even think about sex.

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Marc Savlov

Austin Chronicle

02/03/2007

4/5

It comes as a pleasant shock, actually, to see newcomer Whittaker holding her actorly own against the icon O'Toole.

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

06/17/2021

6/10

It has some tragicomic moments that work with an endearing performance by O'Toole to dialogue about aging, passion and death, but the narrative is a bit soft. [Full review in Spanish]

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Joanne Laurier

World Socialist Web Site

09/02/2020

Despite an elegantly rendered interpretation of the dilemma of these aging men, Venus proves to be unnecessarily light fare...

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Leigh Paatsch

Herald Sun (Australia)

07/31/2020

3.5/5

A master class in acting from the great Peter O'Toole is the calling card of this poised and involving comedy-drama.

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Roger Michell

Director

Peter O'Toole

Maurice

Leslie Phillips

Ian

Jodie Whittaker

Jessie

Richard Griffiths

Donald

Vanessa Redgrave

Valerie

Hallam Foe

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Synopsis

Maurice (Peter O'Toole) and Ian (Leslie Phillips) are veteran British actors who share a friendship and comfortable routines into their 70s. The arrival of Ian's grandniece, Jessie (Jodie Whittaker), shakes things up for the two old friends. Ian has no patience with the young woman, but Maurice finds her enchanting. He wants to show Jessie the sights and teach her about life, then realizes how little he actually knows.

Director: Roger Michell
Producer: Kevin Loader
Screenwriter: Hanif Kureishi
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: FilmFour, Free Range Films, Miramax Films
Rating: R (Language|Brief Nudity|Some Sexual Content)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 21, 2006, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 14, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.3M
Runtime: 1h 35m