Iris ★★★ 2001 (R) Enduring love story between novelist/philosopher Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley from their days at Oxford in the 1950s to Murdoch's long decline from Alzheimer's and death in 1999. Winslet and Bonneville play the young duo while Dench and Broadbent play the mature marrieds. The ladies have the showier roles, especially Winslet, since the young Iris was a sexual free-spirit and disdained conventional morality while John comes across as shy and rather awed by Murdoch's talents. Based on Bayley's memoirs "Iris: A Memoir" and "Elegy for Iris." 90m/C VHS, DVD. GB US Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet, Hugh Bonneville, Penelope Wilton, Juliet Aubrey, Timothy West, Samuel West, Eleanor Bron;
Director:
Richard Eyre;
Writer:
Richard Eyre, Charles Wood;
Writer:
Roger Pratt;
Cameo:
James Horner. Oscars '01: Support. Actor (Broadbent); British Acad. '01: Actress (Dench); Golden Globes '02: Support. Actor (Broadbent); L.A. Film Critics '01: Support. Actor (Broadbent), Support. Actress (Winslet); Natl. Bd. of Review '01: Support. Actor (Broadbent).
