Iris

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amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write("<a href=javascript:popUp('http://buybox.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=reelmoviecriticc&link_code=xsc&creative=23424&camp=2025&path=/dt/assoc/tg/aa/xml/assoc/-/B000067J3R/reelmoviecriticc/ref=ac_bb1_,_amazon')><img src=http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/associates/remote-buy-box/buy1.gif border=0 alt='Buy from Amazon.com' ></a>"); document.close(); </script> <noscript> <form method="POST" action="http://buybox.amazon.com/o/dt/assoc/handle-buy-box=B000067J3R"> <input type="hidden" name="asin.B000067J3R" value="1"> <input type="hidden" name="tag-value" value="reelmoviecriticc"> <input type="hidden" name="tag_value" value="reelmoviecriticc"> <input type="image" name="submit.add-to-cart" value="Buy from Amazon.com" border="0" alt="Buy from Amazon.com" src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/associates/add-to-cart.gif"> </form> </noscript>  </B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>Iris </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Wingdings 2" ><B>êêê</B></FONT><B> (R)</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> Reviewed By Brenda Sexton</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="545"><div> Life is tough</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="580" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Iris: Judi Dench</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> John Bayly: Jim Broadbent</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Young Iris: Kate Winslet</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Young John Bayly: Hugh Bonneville</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Director: Richard Eyre</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="304" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: This film captures the deterioration of the health, mind and spirit of Iris Murdoch, the brilliant speaker, professor and prolific writer, as told by her husband and lover of forty years, fellow professor and master literary critic, John Bayly.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> Young Iris (Kate Winslet) bursts onto every scene, brimming with life.  Whether it's swimming naked in a nearby pond, racing down a hill on her bicycle or expounding her political or broad sexual views, she relishes the control she has over her life. Always at the top of her game, Iris enthusiastically pursues her passions, which range from bi-sexual adventures to intellectual conquests.  She boldly creates her life, living by her own rules, lustfully pursuing the awkward, virginal, mesmerized John Bayly (Jim Broadbent).</div> <bR> <div> From the very beginning of their 40-year relationship, she clearly runs the show, challenging John to greater exploration, whether it's in the sexual or intellectual arena.  She seems to be on a mission to shock and surpass all around her with her vibrancy and freedom of thought.  John's awkward and bumbling nature further enforces her power and determination to lead, establishing clear roles for the framework of their life together.</div> <bR> <div> Flashing forward forty years their world has flipped around, now it is John who must take the lead, as he is forced into the role of caretaker. He must be captain of the ship-a role he has possibly avoided his whole life and one that he clearly resents now in his old age. Iris begins to suffer from Alzheimer's disease, slowly losing her connection and basic capabilities in her world.  She ultimately transforms from strength and powerful convictions, to being more befuddled than John and essentially lost, confused, and completely dependent on him.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: Based upon John Bayly's tome to his deceased wife, "Elegy for Iris," this film painfully portrays a progressive loss of a vital life before our very eyes. Clearly a difficult and overwhelming subject, we see the spirit and energy simply fade away from the mind and body of a once brilliant woman, leaving her helpless and a frustrating burden to her more passive husband.  With no chance for a happy ending, this movie levies a heavy burden of the harshest reality to life-we are all in the process of deterioration, heading to a horrifyingly humbling state of vulnerability and ultimate death.  </div> <bR> <div> Obviously a difficult subject for a movie, one not often pursued or enjoyed by the public, <I><B>Iris</B></I> is a powerfully depressing tale of a disintegrating life. At one point John Bayly exclaims to Iris, the love of his life, "I hate you-you ugly cow!"  For better and for worse-this is Iris and all of us at our very worst.  There's barely a trace of her mind, yet her body remains as a frustrating relic of her once vibrant spirit.</div> <bR> <div> All four major performances here are outstanding and magically linked through the ages. Kate Winslet is a young Judi Dench, Hugh Bonneville a young Jim Broadbent. They plunge us into the characters, leaving us depleted and shattered by the inevitable outcome.</div> <bR> <div> As the characters meld into one another, so does the filming, offering us flashbacks blending time and spirit.  Magnificently filmed and acted, <I><B>Iris</B></I> is a work of art that brings to light the essential darkness of life.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> Rating (sex; nudity)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> Brenda D. Sexton © 2002</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:brendasext@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:brendasext@aol.com"><U><U>Brenda@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Judi Dench:  Shakespeare In Love</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> Director:  Richard Eyre</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Kate Winslet:  Titanic</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Jim Broadbent: <I><B>Moulin Rouge</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Hugh Bonneville:  Nottting Hill</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Richard Eyre:  Laughterhouse</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>