82
Metascore
32 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranTold with wit, genuine poignancy and all kinds of humor, Venus charts the unlikely relationship between a man in his 70s and a young woman more than half a century his junior.
- 90NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenA heartbreaking comedy that is simultaneously funny and sad, raunchy and sweet, funky and elegiac. These fresh, unexpected juxtapositions are a specialty of the writer Hanif Kureishi ("My Beautiful Laundrette"), a sworn enemy of cliché.
- 83Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerThe screenplay is by Hanif Kureishi, who wrote "The Mother" for Michell and also scripted the classic "My Beautiful Laundrette." He has a feeling for outsiders.
- 80Village VoiceVillage VoiceMaurice, the protagonist of Venus, is a suit lovingly tailored to O'Toole's ravaged but commanding frame.
- 80Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternWall Street JournalJoe MorgensternAwash in terrific performances.
- 80The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottSince the movie is about desire -- not so much for sex as for the vitality and surprise that sex can provide -- it is also about power. Few writers can match Mr. Kureishi's knowing wit on this subject, or his skill at dissecting the shifting dynamics of longing and domination.
- 75Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversO'Toole gives a staggering performance -- fearless, defiantly untamed and in its own way a work of art.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThis is a brave movie because it addresses a subject Hollywood feels uncomfortable about.
- 70VarietyTodd McCarthyVarietyTodd McCarthyGenuinely funny, randy and moving by turns, breezily enjoyable throughout.
- 70New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinVenus is worth seeing for the scenes between O’Toole and Vanessa Redgrave as the woman he abandoned--the mother of his children.