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Peter O'Toole and Leslie Phillips collaborate on 'Venus'

The two screen legends will star in the forthcoming flick from 'Enduring Love' director Roger Michell.

Nov 28 2005

British institutions Peter O'Toole and Leslie Phillips have started work on Roger Michell's new feature, 'Venus'.

The 'coming of very old age' story stars the pair as Maurice and Ian, two unsuccessful English actors who eek out a living doing bit parts in TV and film.

When Ian's grand-niece Jessie comes to stay, Maurice shows her the sites and sounds of London while trying to teach the youngster a thing or two about life.

All does not go according to plan however, and Maurice ends up learning some hard lessons about himself.

Co-starring Vanessa Redgrave and Richard Griffiths, the film also introduces newcomer Jodie Whittaker as Jessie.

'Venus' reunites director Michell ('Notting Hill', 'Enduring Love') with writer Hanif Kureishi, with whom he previously collaborated on 'The Mother' and TV series 'The Buddha of Suburbia'.

User comments on this story

Lola Williams said...

It is not often that while watching a DVD, at home, alone, that I laugh out loud and cry out loud, but "Venus" did that for me. Peter O'Toole is magnificent, as is the rest of the cast. The humor, the pathos, I was so touched by this film. Peter O’Toole and Jodie Whittaker performances were extremely poignant to me. They became believable, and oh, how beautiful the last scene of the film was. The British sense of humor cannot be matched. I loved the scenes with Maurice and Ian, shouting obscenities at each other in one scene and dancing together in another. To me, the film is about love and deep friendships. Though I am very fond of Forest Whitaker, and thought he was amazing in “The Last King of Scotland”, I wish that Peter O’Toole had won the Oscar. The films were so different, how does one choose. I am going to watch Venus again tonight to see anything I missed. Posted on May 27 2007 17:57

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Lola Williams said...

It is not often that while watching a DVD, at home, alone, that I laugh out loud and cry out loud, but "Venus" did that for me. Peter O'Toole is magnificent, as is the rest of the cast. The humor, the pathos, I was so touched by this film. Peter O’Toole and Jodie Whittaker performances were extremely poignant to me. They became believable, and oh, how beautiful the last scene of the film was. The British sense of humor cannot be matched. I loved the scenes with Maurice and Ian, shouting obscenities at each other in one scene and dancing together in another. To me, the film is about love and deep friendships. Though I am very fond of Forest Whitaker, and thought he was amazing in “The Last King of Scotland”, I wish that Peter O’Toole had one the Oscar. The films were so different, how does one choose. I am going to watch Venus again tonight to see anything I missed. Posted on May 27 2007 17:56

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SandyCarlson said...

This is a beautiful movie. O'Toole's urbanity wins my heart yet again. Might as well be Lion in Winter! Posted on May 25 2007 02:34

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Michelle Browstan said...

I just looked it up on imoovie as well. I liked Venus, but check out Fay Grim at imoovie. I didn't know it was on DVD yet Posted on May 24 2007 01:23

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Shannon Kennedy said...

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've heard about it. A friend of mine bought the DVD on imoovie.com and let me borrow it, so I'm going to watch it tomoroow. I read the synopsis on imoovie though and it sounds like a great movie. Posted on May 22 2007 20:07

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Nina Keay said...

Very well acted, directed and cast film. But I sighed for my own lost youth to see Lawrence of Arabia so haggard. Superb acting though from him and Leslie Phillips both. Posted on Jan 30 2007 20:41

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