After Iris, why would Hollywood bother making any more Alzheimer's disease movies? This one has everything you'd ever expect or want in such a tragic story, and since it was based off the title character's memoirs, it's even sadder. There's no reason to keep making this extremely sad story over and over again when no one really wants to watch it. The only reason people get suckered into renting them is to see one of their favorite actors or actresses show off their acting chops, but as the majority of actors have proved, there are plenty of other types of roles that can show off acting chops that have nothing to do with Alzheimer's disease.
In any case, if you're renting Iris, it's because you want to see Judi Dench's or Kate Winslet's Oscar-nominated performances, or Jim Broadbent's Oscar-winning performance. Judi and Jim are wonderful, but since they're great professionals, have you ever seen them in movies where they weren't wonderful? You don't have to rent this one to prove that point. Yes, they run the gamut of anger, fear, pain, hope, love, and sadness, but do you really want to put yourself through this movie?
In continual flashbacks, a young Judi and Jim are portrayed by Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville. While the old couple fit together like two halves of a whole, as Jim says in an early scene, the young couple is shown as vastly different people who don't really fit in each other's worlds, as Kate says in a later scene. Hugh is bumbling and incredibly shy, and Kate is a bold, free spirit who sleeps around and hurts him. She's perpetually taking her clothes off, which feels gratuitous and cheap. The movie would be infinitely better and classier without the nudity, as the story is about a couple's life together not about a woman whose sole characteristic is that she can't keep her clothes on. This is not Kate Winslet's movie, even though she was nominated for an Oscar. Unlike her costar, she doesn't try to become a young version of her older counterpart. She's merely Kate Winslet with a wig on. Hugh is fantastic, transforming into such a picture-perfect youthful version of Jim Broadbent, it's almost impossible to tell them apart. If you've gone into this movie never having seen either of them, you'll probably think it was one actor throughout the entire movie with age make-up in some scenes.
If you do decide to put yourself through this very upsetting subject matter, you will be treated to two truly wonderful performances by the men. As is usually the case in these types of movies, the ill person isn't given nearly as much to do as the person who watches and endures, so Judi's performance isn't as involved as Jim's. Jim will make you cry, but he always makes you cry, doesn't he?
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to nudity and adult subject matter, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.
In any case, if you're renting Iris, it's because you want to see Judi Dench's or Kate Winslet's Oscar-nominated performances, or Jim Broadbent's Oscar-winning performance. Judi and Jim are wonderful, but since they're great professionals, have you ever seen them in movies where they weren't wonderful? You don't have to rent this one to prove that point. Yes, they run the gamut of anger, fear, pain, hope, love, and sadness, but do you really want to put yourself through this movie?
In continual flashbacks, a young Judi and Jim are portrayed by Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville. While the old couple fit together like two halves of a whole, as Jim says in an early scene, the young couple is shown as vastly different people who don't really fit in each other's worlds, as Kate says in a later scene. Hugh is bumbling and incredibly shy, and Kate is a bold, free spirit who sleeps around and hurts him. She's perpetually taking her clothes off, which feels gratuitous and cheap. The movie would be infinitely better and classier without the nudity, as the story is about a couple's life together not about a woman whose sole characteristic is that she can't keep her clothes on. This is not Kate Winslet's movie, even though she was nominated for an Oscar. Unlike her costar, she doesn't try to become a young version of her older counterpart. She's merely Kate Winslet with a wig on. Hugh is fantastic, transforming into such a picture-perfect youthful version of Jim Broadbent, it's almost impossible to tell them apart. If you've gone into this movie never having seen either of them, you'll probably think it was one actor throughout the entire movie with age make-up in some scenes.
If you do decide to put yourself through this very upsetting subject matter, you will be treated to two truly wonderful performances by the men. As is usually the case in these types of movies, the ill person isn't given nearly as much to do as the person who watches and endures, so Judi's performance isn't as involved as Jim's. Jim will make you cry, but he always makes you cry, doesn't he?
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to nudity and adult subject matter, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.