Iris (2001)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Sophie B

  
  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… More
  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 she becomes ill. Her poor husband John who she treated terribly should have left her the moment he met her. Really didn't enjoy this film at all.

• Randy T

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

• Spencer S

  
  Each individual performance was influenced by the actual character, but personality leaked in undoubtedly. Judi Dench, so utterly amazingly, took on Alzheimer's without her usual grace, which not only surpirsed me, but made me respect her more. Winslet was her usual whimsical… More
  Each individual performance was influenced by the actual character, but personality leaked in undoubtedly. Judi Dench, so utterly amazingly, took on Alzheimer's without her usual grace, which not only surpirsed me, but made me respect her more. Winslet was her usual whimsical self, and Broadbent, the cooky man of the hour, put on the appearance of a man with little left in life. Beautiful, and scary, it would have been much better had they focused more on Iris' past, and less on her later years.

• Jim H

  
  While I watched this film, I enjoyed it. i enjoyed Dench's convincing portrayal of the Alzheimer's-afflicted Murdoch and Winslet as the vivacious younger Murdoch, and I was astounded by Jim Broadbent, who deserved the Oscar for Murdoch's stuttering,… More
  While I watched this film, I enjoyed it. i enjoyed Dench's convincing portrayal of the Alzheimer's-afflicted Murdoch and Winslet as the vivacious younger Murdoch, and I was astounded by Jim Broadbent, who deserved the Oscar for Murdoch's stuttering, inferior-complex-afflicted, devoted husband. He is truly fantastic in this role. But as I thought about the film, I realized just how eminently forgettable it is. Not only is it thin on plot, the narrative structure - with multiple flashbacks and half-scenes - actually detracts from the dramatic impact of the story. Attention story-tellers of all ilks: this is how *not* to do fractured time. Just because Tarantino can make it work, doesn't mean everyone else can. Also, for a moment, the Dench/Broadbent storyline seems to echo <i>A Beautiful Mind</i>, and we are mercifully given a central, driving goal, but this is unfortunately abandoned, and more rousing violins play. Thank heavens for Broadbent, who almost makes it all worth it.

• Lorenzo v

  
  <i>"Her greatest talent was for life"</i> True story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer's disease. <center><font size=+2 face="Century… More
  <i>"Her greatest talent was for life"</i> True story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer's disease. <center><font size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook"><b><u>REVIEW</u></b></font></center> Heartbreaking true-life account biopic about acclaimed British author Iris Murdoch who succumbed to Alzheimer's disease. Dench and Winslet play Murdoch in her latter and early days respectively as well as Broadbent and Bonneville as her beloved husband and colleague in literature John Bayley (all by the way superb and effortless in their transitions onscreen uncannily echoing each other). Based on Bayley's books about his late, great wife and the downward spiral that was cruelly ironic for such a woman of wit and talent.

• Jennifer X

  
  it's SO hard to rate movies like this because even though i don't enjoy the movie i understand the art behind it. like the acting was absolutely fantastic. dame judi dench's acting goes beyond skill; she has a visceral understanding of the art of acting and executes… More
  it's SO hard to rate movies like this because even though i don't enjoy the movie i understand the art behind it. like the acting was absolutely fantastic. dame judi dench's acting goes beyond skill; she has a visceral understanding of the art of acting and executes brilliantly. kate winslet is a bubbly mass of energy, mysterious and flamboyant. jim broadbent so completely absorbs his character it's like i'm watching 100% john bayley. jim broadbent has disappeared for those 90 minutes and john bayley has superseded him. undeniably the acting is top-notch and the movie, although i didn't like it, was "good". so in the end it just boils down to preference. i can't completely denigrate the movie just because i personally didn't like it. i recognize and appreciate the acting and directing. it's just that...it didn't strike me at the right chords. i wasn't particularly sad when iris started slowly deteriorating, and, especially during the end, it just seemed like a game of cat-and-mouse between iris's insane and sane moments. this made the movie seem 10 times longer than it was. maybe it was the subject that didn't interest me - i'm more a dialogue person, and movie exuded more of an atmosphere. and fabulous acting sort of helped me get to the atmosphere, but it didn't keep me there the whole way.

• Cameron J

  
  Though a bit underdeveloped, confusing and inconsistant in its times jumps, "Iris" is still a quite well-acted, well-written, emotional and ultimately, rather immersive biopic.

• Joey N

  
  True story about an author's fall from Alzheimer's disease. Judi Dench paints a terribly sad portrait and Jim Broadbent gives an achingly tender supporting performance.

• Sarah P

  
  This one fell flat for me. I didn't feel the emotion of the struggle. "Away From Her" is much better at showcasing what Alzheimer's does to people and relationships. Even the "Notebook" is more spot on...

• Daisy M

  
  Iris is a life story of the British novelist Iris Murdoch and her battle with Alzheimer's disease. Iris was portrayed in youth by Kate Winslet and in old age by Judy Dench, who was perfect in this role. The story was told through scenes of their younger life to the older life.… More
  Iris is a life story of the British novelist Iris Murdoch and her battle with Alzheimer's disease. Iris was portrayed in youth by Kate Winslet and in old age by Judy Dench, who was perfect in this role. The story was told through scenes of their younger life to the older life. What I have missed was the real sense of Iris, her works, that could have give a deeper meaning of the character. The movie was more about the disease then on the character Iris herself. But all in all, it was a good movie.

• Sunil J

  
  A sweet sad movie about falling in love and getting older.

• John A

  
  A quiet and intriguing biopic of the famous English writer Iris Murdoch, 'Iris' is a poignant drama exploring the author's relationship with her childhood sweetheart, John Bailey, and her diagnosis with Alzheimer's later in life. Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent pull… More
  A quiet and intriguing biopic of the famous English writer Iris Murdoch, 'Iris' is a poignant drama exploring the author's relationship with her childhood sweetheart, John Bailey, and her diagnosis with Alzheimer's later in life. Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent pull off marvellous performances as the ageing couple; Dench's erratic behaviour, her quiet moments of seclusion and her absolute acceptance demonstrate true passion toward the material, while Broadbent is just as impressive, presenting the frustration and sadness of such a situation. Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville then portray the younger versions of the married couple, and both parallel extremely effectively with their older counterparts - the director has carefully chosen the actors, and the dialogue and mannerisms presented clearly reflect this. On the other hand, the transition from health to illness seems sudden and unbalanced, and while individual scenes are directed with sensitivity and are clearly of a harrowing nature, the film's editing is often incoherent, giving it an amateur feel opposite to the source material. It's a fine drama, with more than enough soul and performances alone worth lauding over, but it is routine, conventional and doesn't break any new ground - and for such an acclaimed writer there is the feeling the film doesn't reach the heights or become the moving and informative drama it could have, the lack of ambition more a sad acceptance than a source of frustration.

Read all 12 featured audience ratings