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Resigned to spend the rest of his life getting movie roles as a corpse and reading the obituaries at the café with his friends as they await their own passing, aging actor Maurice (Peter O’Toole) never expected to fall in love again. But when his closest friend and fellow actor, Ian (Leslie Phillips), hires his niece’s daughter to live with him and take care of him, Maurice finds himself immediately attracted to the girl.
Ian hates Jessie (Jodie Whittaker) from the moment she moves in. She’s loud and uncaring. She drinks too much and wears her skirts too short. And she doesn’t know how to cook fish. So Maurice, being the good friend that he is, offers to take her out—both to get her out of Ian’s way and to have the opportunity to spend more time with her. To Maurice, Jessie is his Venus—the goddess of love. And though she often treats him like a stray mutt, she also encourages his feelings—because they cause him to spend all of his earnings on clothes and jewelry and tattoos and whatever else she wants.
In the beginning, Venus is a lovable film—a kind of British Grumpy Old Men, drenched in dry, sophisticated wit. O’Toole, Phillips, and Richard Griffiths are wonderful as the three old men who gather at the café each day to see which of their acquaintances get the lengthiest obituaries. Though they’re well aware that their time is coming, they take it in stride (well, except for Ian, who does little but complain), and they enjoy their time together. They chat, they argue, they go to the theater. And they’re truly a pleasure to watch.
When Maurice and Jessie first meet, they make an interesting pair. And though Maurice is obviously a dirty old man, he’s still lovable. But as their relationship progresses—as Maurice becomes more obsessed and Jessie begins to take advantage of him—the film isn’t all that lovable anymore. The humor drops away, and the story becomes increasingly uncomfortable. And as Maurice begins to face the imminence of his death—with little or no respect or compassion from his young friend—it just becomes rather dismal. It gets heavier and heavier until not even the warm Friday afternoon sunshine that greeted me outside the theater once the movie was over could cheer me up again.
Seventy-four-year-old O’Toole gives yet another outstanding performance in Venus—and he definitely deserves recognition for his role. But, unfortunately, Venus isn’t a film that will appeal to wide audiences.
