Armand it is one of his great roles. seductive, powerful, honest, simple. a piece from ordinary life. two worlds. few questions. a lot of answers. and three old men front with a girl who must define her. nothing else. or, this poor stage is best space for O'Toole art to do a delicate, convincing portrait. and his science of detail give force to Jodie Whittaker performance. and basis for story, nuances to its levels, joy to discover a rare small gem. a delight. in special form. and best manner to present steps of a fight against yourself in which innocence is part of wise gestures, in which love is more than desire but destroy of predictable future. a film about ordinary universe,. warm, touching, splendid. its axis - the brilliant Peter O'Toole.

janisgale I saw this film last night on TV and was so moved by it, I had to write a review. The story of an old man's last weeks on earth was touching and subtly revealing. Little by little the main character's personalities were revealed and the audience came to discover the secrets in their earlier lives. The performances of O'Toole and Lesley Phillips were stunning, as was that of the young actress, who until this movie was an unknown entity. In addition the script and superb direction made this movie a perfect one for me and certainly a film to remember.

nomercy Firstly, regarding the comments from "brocksilvey", they are very good except for the part that O'Toole should get an Oscar before he dies. It is important to note that O'Toole has won an Oscar. In 962 he won for Lawrence of Arabia, which is probably one of the best films ever made and he certainly gave a great performance. I also agree that he was magnificent in "The Lion in Winter". Now regarding "Venus". I did not like this movie subject matter, (a bit too dark for me). Nonetheless, I certainly appreciate the performances of both young and seasoned actors. It gets across the sense of loss that people who have lived in the limelight experience when they are no longer the center of attention. Also it exposes the general abandonment that many older people suffer as their friends and family of like-age begin to die. However, this movie does it without the usual over-the-top melodrama usually associated with "golden" age movies. Nor does it astray into unrealistic "old people can do anything" nonsense.Well balanced and very well performed.

jzappa Venus is what can truly be called an actor's film. In the hands of another director, it could have been more, but the way it is in the hands of Roger Michell, were it not for Peter O'Toole, it would hardly be much. Leslie Phillips and Richard Griffiths provide terrific background performances, not to mention that of the very promising and persuasive young actress Jodie Whittaker. There is even the graceful presence of Vanessa Redgrave's walk-on role, but the lasting impression of the film is unremarkable. That does not, however, detract from how interesting and real the story is itself.Harif Kureishi's script concerns O'Toole, who plays a revered English actor whose work and cherished social life have been weather-beaten since he is now geriatric. However he finds himself more and more attracted to his long-time friend's great-niece, while at the same time finding himself in failing health because of prostate cancer. His friend describes Whittaker's punkish, self-seeking teenager as a trouble maker and a pain, but O'Toole finds that she rather endears to him when he starts interacting with her. He takes her to see his favorite painting, Velázquez's Venus. She alludes to an interest in modeling, growing into a funny initial scene in which he initially misunderstands her and thinks she is interested in yodeling. He sets her up to model nude for an art class. Because of her posing for the art class, and informed by his favorite painting, he gives her the nickname Venus. The two flesh out a passive-aggressive relationship throughout the film. He is too romantically bold while she sporadically panders to his urges to a restricted point, for instance touching her hand and smelling her neck, but sharply withdraws her lenience when she feels that he has gone too far.The movie follows the developing connection between the two characters. This seems to be the last crack at something akin to a love life, as his prostate operation has left him impotent. It is less apparent what Whittaker sees in O'Toole. Throughout, we see her do everything from trying to get him to buy her presents, trying to use his apartment to have sex with a sleazy boy, take care of him, flirt with him, reject him sexually and connect with him as a friend. At one point, we find that she has been rejected by her mother and great- uncle for her promiscuous standard of living. Essentially, it's about the unfortunate gap and great room for discomfort between someone who is harshly judged by so many and someone who would never think to judge her, too old and too wise and too far into his last legs to care about what is and is not socially acceptable.This is not a badly made film. I admired the clashing of worlds of O'Toole and Whittaker, mainly through the use of music. There just isn't a lot of impact. I wanted to want to think about this movie afterward, but Venus just didn't radiate. Nevertheless, it is definitely worth a viewing.