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Venus

Venus

Comedy · Drama · Romance · 2006

Maurice is an aging veteran actor who becomes taken with Jessie, the grandniece of his closest friend. When Maurice tries to soften the petulant and provincial young girl with the benefit of his wisdom and London culture, their give-and-take surprises both Maurice and Jessie as they discover what they don't know about themselves.

Movie details

Venus

“She's a real work of art.”

2006 Comedy · Drama · Romance 1h 35m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.6 / 10

Community rating

Maurice is an aging veteran actor who becomes taken with Jessie, the grandniece of his closest friend. When Maurice tries to soften the petulant and provincial young girl with the benefit of his wisdom and London culture, their give-and-take surprises both Maurice and Jessie as they discover what they don't know about themselves.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Venus?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Roger Michell

Written by

Hanif Kureishi

Peter O'Toole

Peter O'Toole

Maurice

Leslie Phillips

Leslie Phillips

Ian

Jodie Whittaker

Jodie Whittaker

Jessie

Vanessa Redgrave

Vanessa Redgrave

Valerie

Richard Griffiths

Richard Griffiths

Donald

Cathryn Bradshaw

Cathryn Bradshaw

Jillian

B

Beatrice Savoretti

Waitress

Court is in session

Put Venus on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.