Review of Venus (2006) by Daniel K — 05 Jul 2009

3: I wasn't quite as blown away as I was hoping I might be. I had looked forward to seeing this for some time due to the now rarity of a starring role for O'Toole. I still think the Oscar could/should have gone to O'Toole, but it wasn't an open and shut case.

It would be great to see him receive a Best Actor Oscar before his career comes to a close. I found his performance to be exemplary. There is very little, if anything, he could have done to make it more powerful.

He was limited only by the story and filmmakers. One could certainly tell he was having a grand old time playing this particular role. It certainly isn't the type of character or performance one often sees from septuagenarians.

The infirmities and details of growing older seemed far more present here than in just about any film that comes to mind. He was bitingly hilarious at times and played every moment to perfection as only a true master could.

He surrounded himself with stellar actors as well. Whittaker is deliciously brash, trampy, and manipulative. Phillips is the ideal foil for O'Toole. Redgrave is brilliant and beautiful as always. She conveys quite a depth of character based on hardly any screen time at all.

I can't fault O'Toole's performance for the films shortcomings, as it was brilliant, but I didn't find the third act and particularly the end of the film to be quite up to the task. Michell definitely can and has made spectacular films, so I think it will simply have to chalked up to a lack of that elusive whiff of cinema magic that some films manage to attain and others simply fall short of.

The look at a London I'm pretty unfamiliar with was interesting as well. These guys seem to have their own little world of the theatre.