Behold the glory of Peter O’Toole

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, January 25, 2007

What’s the best word to describe Peter O’Toole in “Venus,” a film in which the frail, raspy-voiced actor’s face and body reveal every cigarette, cocktail and misadventure he’s had over the years?

How about this word: Glorious.

O’Toole rules in “Venus,” an unsentimental yet warm portrait of a lion in winter. He plays Maurice, who used to be a recognizable London actor but is now reduced to playing deathbed patients in tiny supporting roles.

Mostly Maurice hangs around comparing ailments with Ian (the excellent Leslie Phillips), another theatrical veteran. When Ian’s niece Jessie (Jodie Whittaker) comes to stay with her uncle, Ian expects a charming English girl who will be attentive and civilized.

Instead, she is vulgar beyond belief. Ian retreats … but Maurice, clearly a charmer of the old school, senses a challenge.

Or perhaps he’s simply a dirty old man. The film leaves it up for argument whether his interest in this young woman is a seduction or a Pygmalion-like impulse to edify.

Either way, Jessie is guarded about it. But she’s somewhat curious, too, and she’s enjoying the power that comes from tantalizing Maurice with her presence.

Fact is, she’s not really a Venus – her looks are ordinary, her education nonexistent. That is part of the beauty of the film; Jessie isn’t particularly special, but she’s nearby. And Maurice is who he is, to the very end.

In Maurice’s occasional visits to his ex-wife (Vanessa Redgrave), we get hints of his past appetite for women. On some level, he must be aware of the absurdity of an old gent like himself pursuing this foolish young woman. But he refuses to go gently into that good night.

The script is an original by Hanif Kureishi, and few other writers could conjure up this blend of clear-eyed comedy and cutting wisdom. Kureishi’s previous script was “The Mother,” which looked at an older woman’s affair with a younger man; this reverses the formula, but with a more reflective eye.

This is nicely captured by director Roger Michell, who did one of the best Jane Austen adaptations, “Persuasion.” And it’s perfectly embodied by Peter O’Toole, who etches a flawless portrait of a human being tussling with mortality. O’Toole doesn’t display any vanity in this performance – unless it’s the vanity of an actor who knows that the sheer effort of being vain might keep him alive. Glorious.

Peter O’Toole and Jodie Whittaker star in “Venus.”