I
remember when this film came out and the buzz about Peter O’Toole’s Oscar
chances, it being his eighth nomination with no wins under his belt (Forest
Whitaker was the eventual winner.)
However, I never saw it, and until I started Countdown to Thirteen, I
had no idea Jodie Whittaker was in it.
This was one of her earliest roles, but despite playing the female lead,
I didn’t really hear people talking about her, and so she didn’t come into the
notice of a lot of U.S. audiences until Broadchurch
(a few spoilers.)
Maurice,
an aging actor, takes a liking to the “caregiver” of his friend Ian. The caregiver, Jessie, is in fact Ian’s
great-niece, and he envisions her caring and cooking for him as he teaches her
about the finer points of great literature, but he instead feels terrorized by
the self-absorbed young woman who drinks his good liquor and can’t be bothered
to do much. But while Ian is desperate
to get rid of her, Maurice is immediately entranced by Jessie, and the outings
he takes her on to “get her out of Ian’s hair” are designed to impress and
attract her.
If I’d
seen this movie in 2006, I’m sure I would’ve been troubled by it, and it’s even
more uncomfortable to watch in 2018.
Yes, Jessie likes that Maurice buys her things and is shrewd enough to
see the advantage in keeping him on the hook, but she also gets that she doesn’t
actually owe him anything for the indulgences he lavishes on her, and he
repeatedly crosses her explicitly-stated boundaries. Even when she makes concessions to him – for
example, three kisses on her shoulders – he goes past what she’s said he can
have. The hungry look in Maurice’s eye
skeeves me out, and regardless of the decades-wide age difference between him
and Jessie, I’m less concerned about his age than the fact that he keeps
pushing when she tells him no.
As such,
it’s a hard film to enjoy. It’s
certainly excellently-made, with a fine cast that also includes Richard Griffiths,
Vanessa Redgrave, and Leslie Phillips as Ian (I knew I recognized his voice –
he was the Sorting Hat!) I like the
meditation it makes on the assorted indignities of aging, of the change in
opportunities, abilities, and other people’s perception of you, and that
certainly extends to sex and relationships.
It’s true that, if this was Maurice in his younger days, perhaps Jessie
wouldn’t refuse him. But she does, and
that’s why he’s creepy to me.
Whittaker
is terrific as Jessie. She’s an utterly
basic young woman, all microwave dinners, reality TV, and expectations of a
modeling career that’ll start any day now.
It’s evident that Maurice’s interest in her has nearly nothing to do
with who she is – like Ian, he has lofty ideas about her, but unlike Ian, his
persist after he gets to know her, and he calls her “Venus” after the painting.
I think
the film would probably benefit from more of Jessie’s perspective, but
Whittaker still does well handling Jessie’s balancing act with Maurice. Sometimes she’s opportunistic, sometimes
curious, sometimes begrudging, sometimes pitying, sometimes embarrassed,
sometimes revulsed, and she doesn’t have everything figured out. The film offers a few motivations for why she
doesn't get away from him, why it seems she actively chooses to stay, but
ultimately, what’s in her head kind of eludes me, and I think that’s on the
movie, not on Whittaker.
Accent Watch
Super Northern.
Recommend?
In
General
– I’d have a hard time doing that.
Again, it’s very well made and the performances are all terrific, but it’s
a very uncomfortable movie to watch, and not in a good way.
Jodie
Whittaker
– A cautious yes. Cautious for the same
reason I’d hesitate to recommend the film in general, but yes because Whittaker
is fantastic is this very early major role – not like any other character I’ve
seen her play.
Warnings
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