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Venus
Peter O’Toole in one of his last, finest performances in this story about an aging actor who thought he’d seen it all – until he met her.
Director: Roger Michell
Overview
Roger Michell (Notting Hill) directs acting legend Peter O’Toole in this hilarious, warm, and insightful British comedy. Maurice (O’Toole) is no stranger to stage or screen. Nearing the end of his career, he finds himself playing the dying grandfather or background extra in period pieces. He thought he has seen it all in his lifetime – until he strikes up a friendship with one of his friend’s young relatives, Jessie (Jodie Whittaker). Michell mines humour and grace in this ode to acting, art, and femininity, while O’Toole gives an Academy Award-nominated performance in one of his last turns.
It’s no easy feat to hold your own against acting legends O’Toole, Leslie Phillips, and Richard Griffiths, but Whittaker does just that and more in a star-making performance full of light, humanity, and wit. Venus is a charming, surprising, and human comedy that reminds us all we are never too old to recognize the beauty in life.
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