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Iris

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Iris (2001)

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Reviews Counted:108

Fresh:85

Rotten:23

Average Rating:7.1/10

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

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for sexuality/nudity and some language

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Dec 14, 2001 Limited

Box Office: $5,372,026

Synopsis: Based on the book ELEGY FOR IRIS, by John Bayley, this biopic tells the inspiring and heartbreaking story of the writer's 40-year romance with English novelist Dame Iris Murdoch. The film cuts back... Based on the book ELEGY FOR IRIS, by John Bayley, this biopic tells the inspiring and heartbreaking story of the writer's 40-year romance with English novelist Dame Iris Murdoch. The film cuts back and forth between the young Iris and John (played by Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville), at the height of their romantic adventures as students at Oxford in the 1950s, and the elderly couple (played by Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent), struggling with Iris' decline, as her brilliant mind is ravaged by the effects of Alzheimer's. Judi Dench gives an outstanding performance--her transformation from a prolific genius of the written and spoken word (Murdoch wrote 26 novels), to the infantile state of losing her language facilities altogether, is truly wrenching. Jim Broadbent is equally touching as her partner for life, who has adored the passionate Iris since they met, but was never fully able to possess her until the tragic end, when he declares in grief, "I've got you now, and I don't bloody want you!" Directed by Richard Eyre, artistic director of Britain's Royal National Theater, the film is uniquely sensitive and finely acted. [More]

Starring: Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet, Hugh Bonneville

Starring: Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet, Hugh Bonneville, Penelope Wilton

Director: Richard Eyre

Director: Richard Eyre
Screenwriter: Charles Wood, Richard Eyre
Producer: Scott Rudin
Composer: James Horner
Studio: Miramax Films

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Release:

Aug 20, 2002

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Iris
  • Here's the powerful true story based on John Bayley's novels that earned Jim Broadbent an Academy Award(R) for Best Supporting Actor and Academy Award(R) nominations for Best Actress Judi Dench and Best Supporting Actress Kate Winslet (IRIS, 2001). Judi Dench (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE) and Kate Winslet (TITANIC) bring to the screen one of the most extraordinary women of the 20th century, celebrated English author Iris Murdoch. As told by her unlikely soulmate, husband John Bayley, Iris first became known as a brilliant young scholar at Oxford whose boundless spirit dazzled those around her. Then, during her remarkable career as a novelist and philosopher, she continued to prove herself a woman ahead of her time. Even in later life, as age and illness robbed Iris of her remarkable gifts, nothing could diminish her immense influence or weaken the bond with her devoted husband.
  • Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
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    Reviews for Iris

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    1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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    A moving, terribly sad, yet uplifting film that is carried to success by three wonderfully sensitive performances

    Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
    02/22/02
    Brian Webster
    Brian Webster
    Apollo Guide

    It's an exemplary lesson in Acting 101, taught by Judi Dench (Iris) and Jim Broadbent (John Bayley, her loyal husband of 40 years).

    Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
    02/14/02
    Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
    Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
    Atlanta Journal-Constitution
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
    03/03/02
    Steve Davis
    Steve Davis
    Austin Chronicle

    Dench and Winslet inhabit the role of Iris with such intensity it's hard to take your eyes off them.

    Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
    12/18/01
    Neil Smith
    Neil Smith
    BBC

    Iris glows with rightness and convinces us we're sharing its characters' understanding that when the books and the memory go, love can remain.

    Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
    02/15/02
    Jay Carr
    Jay Carr
    Boston Globe
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Fragmented to the point of seeming pointlessly episodic.

    Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
    12/14/01
    Wade Major
    Wade Major
    Boxoffice Magazine

    People around [Iris] show so much love, helping her go gently into that cruel night of mental blankness, that you come away feeling no kindness can ever be wasted.

    Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
    03/01/02
    Lawrence Toppman
    Lawrence Toppman
    Charlotte Observer

    Because the film is well-acted and written with intelligence, it might be worth seeing, despite my objections.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
    02/15/02
    Roger Ebert
    Roger Ebert
    Chicago Sun-Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    It's good, but not great -- despite the heights to which Dench and Broadbent drive it. But those heights are lofty, the pain still stings.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
    02/14/02
    Michael Wilmington
    Michael Wilmington
    Chicago Tribune
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Cincinnati Enquirer | comment Comment
    10/15/02
    Margaret A. McGurk
    Margaret A. McGurk
    Cincinnati Enquirer

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
    01/21/02
    Jules Brenner
    Jules Brenner
    Cinema Signals

    Si han amado a alguien de tal modo que duele el hacerlo, esta es la cinta que deben ver.

    Full Review Source: Cinenganos | comment Comment
    05/12/02
    Alex Ramirez
    Alex Ramirez
    Cinenganos

    Romantic - not of finding, but of knowing...the longer journey of being in love together, and living through what they experience.

    Full Review Source: Cinerina | comment Comment
    07/01/02
    Karina Montgomery
    Karina Montgomery
    Cinerina

    The sketchy story is frustratingly short on details about what made Murdoch so important.

    Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
    12/14/01
    Jonathan Taylor
    Jonathan Taylor
    Citysearch

    ...the results are tender, unflinching, raw and wonderful.

    Full Review Source: CNN.com | comment Comment
    02/15/02
    Paul Clinton (CNN.com)
    Paul Clinton (CNN.com)
    CNN.com
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    A mechanical, shallow reduction of a person's life.

    Full Review Source: Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) | comment Comment
    08/26/02
    Mark Palermo
    Mark Palermo
    Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

    Represents everything that's stale about movie-making -- and especially movie awards -- today.

    Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
    02/15/02
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    Combustible Celluloid

    It's difficult to avoid nausean watching Jim Broadbent look with puppy eyes at Judi Dench throughout an otherwise literate--but too literary--film.

    Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
    12/13/01
    Harvey S. Karten
    Harvey S. Karten
    Compuserve

    It creates a common mourning ground for all of us to reflect on this disease.

    Full Review Source: Contra Costa Times | comment Comment
    02/14/02
    Mary F. Pols
    Mary F. Pols
    Contra Costa Times

    As sad as it is to watch the inexorable decline of a brilliant mind, Iris is warm and positive...

    Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
    12/19/01
    Arthur Lazere
    Arthur Lazere
    culturevulture.net
     
     
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