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Iris (2001)

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Top Critics

Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 109
Fresh: 86 | Rotten: 23

A solidly constructed drama, Iris is greatly elevated by the strength of its four lead performances.

Average Rating: 7.6/10
Critic Reviews: 34
Fresh: 29 | Rotten: 5

A solidly constructed drama, Iris is greatly elevated by the strength of its four lead performances.

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Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 8,670

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Movie Info

Based on a pair of memoirs by her husband John Bayley, this biographical portrait of writer Iris Murdoch stars both Judi Dench and Kate Winslet as the philosophical author at different stages of her life. When the young Iris (Winslet) meets fellow student Bayley (Hugh Bonneville) at Oxford, he's a na�ve virgin easily flummoxed by her libertine spirit, arch personality, and obvious artistic talent. Decades later, little has changed as the couple (now played by Dench and Jim Broadbent) keeps

R, 1 hr. 30 min.

Drama, Romance

Directed By: Richard Eyre

Written By: Charles Wood, Richard Eyre

In Theaters: Dec 14, 2001 Limited

On DVD: Aug 20, 2002

Box Office:$5.4M

Miramax Films

Iris Trailer & Photos

Cast

Judi Dench
Iris Murdoch
Kate Winslet
Young Iris Murdoch
Jim Broadbent
John Bayley
Hugh Bonneville
Young John Bayley
Penelope Wilton
Janet Stone
Juliet Aubrey
Younger Janet
Samuel West
Young Maurice
Timothy West
Old Maurice
Eleanor Bron
College Principal
Joan Bakewell
TV Presenter
Kris Marshall
Dr. Gudeon
Tom Mannion
Neurologist
Derek Hutchinson
Postman
Juliet Howland
Emma Stone
Saira Todd
Phillida Stone
Emma Handy
Policewoman
Stephen Marcus
Taxi Driver
Pauline McLynn
Maureen
Angela Morant
Hostess
Siobhan Hayes
Check-out girl
Gabrielle Reidy
Tricia
Matilda Allsopp
Little Stone
Charlotte Arkwright
Young Phillida Stone
Harriet Arkwright
Young Emma Stone
Steve Edis
Pianist
Pauline McGlynn
Maureen
Nancy Carroll
BBC PA

Critic Reviews for Iris

All Critics (126) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (87) | Rotten (24) | DVD (15)

What should have been a stirring, deeply absorbing character study ... emerges instead as a facile, truncated work.

March 1, 2002 Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee

| Comment

Joe Baltake

Sacramento Bee

Top Critic

[The] performances, if nothing else, embody a standard of excellence that Iris Murdoch herself would surely have cheered.

February 28, 2002 Comment

Jay Boyar

Orlando Sentinel

Top Critic

The impoverished story keeps Iris from achieving greatness, but no qualifiers are needed for the acting.

February 26, 2002 Full Review Source: Toronto Star

| Comment

Peter Howell

Toronto Star

Top Critic

For a movie whose subject is the decline and fall of a towering intellect, there's precious little to think about here.

February 23, 2002 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail

| Comment

Rick Groen

Globe and Mail

Top Critic

There are not two, but four sterling performances here.

February 15, 2002 Comment

Desson Thomson

Washington Post

Top Critic

Not just a fitting document of a life brilliantly lived but a vibrant, almost palpitating piece of cinema.

February 15, 2002 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Ann Hornaday

Washington Post

Top Critic

Admittedly, it's hard not to be affected.

April 9, 2010 Full Review Source: Window to the Movies

| Comment

Jeffrey Chen

Window to the Movies

Despite good acting from the two pairs, viewers expecting illuminating insights about the literary genius, eccentric philosophy and complex sexuality of Iris Murdoch will be disappointed by Richard Eyre's minor, rambling, TV-like film.

December 14, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

...Iris isn't necessarily an enjoyable piece of work, though it's certainly interesting...

November 25, 2006 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews

| Comment

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

There is not a slouch in this film, in front of or behind the camera.

February 8, 2003 Full Review Source: Film Quips Online

| Comment

John R. McEwen

Film Quips Online

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Iris

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Whilst the performances and cast we very good and well suited to each other, I feel like this is supposed to make Iris look like a great person who had a brilliant life but what I saw was completely to the contrary. They showcased Iris to be a selfish, horrible and uncaring woman who only has a sense of humanity when

October 29, 2011

Sophie Burgess

Super Reviewer

Heart wrenching true story of the remarkable life of Iris Murdoch and her utterly devoted husband John Bayley. I found myself having flashbacks of The Notebook and of my own grandmother's spiraling decline into darkness. God damn Alzheimer's disease.

January 12, 2009