Film Review of Iris
Year: 2001 Reviewer: Chris Docker
A sort of `disease of the week' movie. But whereas `A Beautiful Mind' (a film about schizophrenia) has a reasonable amount of substance and a very professionally turned out script, this movie, about author Iris Murdoch's descent into Alzheimer's, failed to convince me of her literary genius or even inspire me to read one of her books. Pseudo-philosophical profundities are uttered with all the conviction that Judi Dench (the older version of Iris) can muster, which is quite a lot, whilst the younger, abandoned Iris is portrayed in multiple flashbacks by Kate Winslet, who manages to get her kit off in most of these scenes. Jim Broadbent works manfully to convince us that a great mind such as Murdoch would fall for a total anorak such as the one played by him (and by Hugh Bonneville in the younger version) but, although it's quite a good movie and at least airs a subject (dementia) that needs to be more widely aired, its one where ultimately its sum is less than its parts. There are some choice cuts in this much hyped film, but the joins have as much pzzazz as congealed gravy.
Rating: 7/10
Film Reviews Index Page: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z