Old love

In Venus, Peter O’Toole romances a girl, but he’s really putting the moves on Oscar

Mike D'Angelo

So far so good—he got the nomination, his eighth. Sentiment aside, you can see why his performance would appeal to the Academy membership, which consists largely of aging actors who no doubt wish that they, too, could inspire a pretty young girl to dip her hand into her honeypot and then hold it aloft like a burnt offering. The girl in question is Jessie (newcomer Jodie Whittaker), a sullen, belligerent layabout who's agreed to look after her ailing great-uncle, Ian (Leslie Phillips). Ian takes an instant dislike to Jessie, who can't be bothered to cook his favorite meals or read the literary classics he's bought to improve her mind; his best friend, Maurice (O'Toole), however, is instantly captivated and soon puts six decades of practiced moves to work. Jessie seems simultaneously flattered and repulsed by his attentions, which leads to a series of negotiations that verge on the pre-adolescent. "You can kiss my shoulders." "Can I?" "Three kisses." His hand on her breast, however, earns him her elbow hard into his gut.

Such indignities aside, Maurice is the ultimate fantasy role for the twilight O'Toole, who spends half the movie pitching woo and the other half reciting Shakespeare. It's never quite clear just how famous Maurice is meant to be; like most septuagenarian actors, he spends much of his screen time lying inert in hospital beds, and we never see anybody stop him in the street to request an autograph. He seems to have played most of the great roles in his day, though, and Jessie, riding to the set with him in a stretch limo and watching him work, seems duly impressed. That doesn't stop her from bringing her age-appropriate boyfriend 'round to his flat for a quick shag, but her features remain hard and opaque with this anonymous bloke. In Maurice's tender presence, they soften and shine.

Unlike the relationship in The Mother, this one never actually becomes carnal. But while Michell and Kureishi clearly intended to depict a less-than-healthy adventure in mutual exploitation (with a happy ending), what we actually get is something closer to puppy love, minus the awkward fumbling that makes that sort of thing charming rather than tedious. O'Toole and Whittaker do solid work, but Venus tastefully ducks the fervid emotions suggested by its title. With so little at stake, the film can't help but come across as something of an actors' showcase—one last shot at the lovely bugger. It's a film that tells us only that a man as intelligent and gifted as Peter O'Toole still requires validation from the people who thought Crash was last year's best picture.

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