5/5 Beautiful and poignant
  by E. C. O'Donovan (New Zealand)
This is such a beautiful film, and although it's sad I didn't find it depressing. The setting is drab - in fact, most of it is filmed in a dilapidated old house - but the effective use of flash-backs and the four superb, Oscar-worthy performances of Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonville shine and make this movie something truly exceptional. See it.

5/5 Love Does Not Cure Everything, But It Helps A Lot
  by Alysson Oliveira (Sao Paulo-- Brazil)
"Iris" is not an easy to movie to watch. It is very painful and it can be unberable to some people. But in the end you see how much it means to have someone to support and love you -- mainly when you need.

The film tells the story of the British novelist and phlisopher Iris Murdoch. Alternating scenes from the young Iris (Kate Winslet) and the old (Judi Dench) the film shows the most important periods of her relationship with the love of her life John Bayley ( Hugh Bonneville and Jim Broadbent). So we see when they first met and how they develop such a relarionship founded on love, friendship and mutual admiration. And we also see their last days, when the desease dominates Iris' mind.

The cast is simply a wonderful. No actor is in the wrong place and the four central actors who plays the couple in different times of their lives are stunning. Kate Winslet once more is brilliant as the young Iris who is beautiful inteligente and fierce. Judi Dench as the older Iris is centred and calm, but still brilliant and the moments when the diseades dominates her mind she is perfect. Jim Broadbent really deserved his Oscar as Iris soul mate. He is the one who helps her to fight the disease, despite the fact it is a lost battle -- as all doctors say.

The direction is simple and quite effective. The screenplay may sound confusing at first, but it is not. The writer meant to show how close facts that happen to the young Iris to the old one are.

Love can not cure anything, but with this movie we see how it helps when hard times come. Iris and John had only each other to support, and they did so until the last minute. Another thing, after seeing the movie, I'm feeling very temptead to read some of Iris' novels.

5/5 Poignant portrait of Iris Murdoch
  by Matthew Horner (USA)
Because I have personally witnessed the devastation of Alzheimerýs Disease, I was hesitant to view ýIrisý, which is an unflinching account of famed British writer Iris Murdochýs battle with this monstrous illness. Now, Iým glad I saw it. Itýs a beautiful film.

Murdoch [1919-1999] wrote nearly thirty novels, most of which deal with the complexities and mysteries of human behavior. She also taught philosophy. She deeply loved her husband of forty years, John Bayley, a renowned literary critic. Her other great love was words. To watch her slowly losing contact with all she loved [and, thus, with all she was] is a deeply touching experience, though the movie can only begin to describe the real-life events.

Iris is portrayed as a young woman by Kate Winslet. Judi Dench plays the older Iris. Young John is Hugh Bonneville, old John is Jim Broadbent, who won and Oscar for his performance. The casting is perfect, not only because the actors are great ones, but also because they blend perfectly as the movie switches back and forth between the present and the past.

This is not meant to be a comprehensive biography. It touches on only a few highlights, which are meant to contrast the vibrantly alive and productive young Iris with the fragile and lost Iris at the end of her life. It is done with great compassion, and the result is perhaps the best illustration of the horror of Alzheimerýs ever put on film.

5/5 Kudos for Dame Judi Dench and Hugh Bonneville
  by Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA)
I've never read any book by the British author, Iris Murdoch, and I doubt that I'll get around to it. However, my decision to ignore literature of probably better quality than I usually choose does not detract from my admiration for the film IRIS, with the title role played by Dame Judi Dench.

Murdoch died in 1999 of Alzheimer's Disease, and IRIS is a poignant and sad chronicle of her descent into mental darkness. (Also currently in theaters is the magnificent film A BEAUTIFUL MIND, starring Russell Crowe, which showcases schizophrenia. It's been a good year for mental maladies.) The tragedy of the IRIS story is emphasized by the heavy use of flashbacks, in which a young and free-spirited Murdoch, played effectively by Kate Winslet, is compared to the aging and deteriorating version portrayed by Dame Judi. Indeed, one of the most notable aspects of the production is the casting, which impressively manages to present to the audience both "young" and "old" versions of both Murdoch and her husband, John Bayley, that actually resemble each other. (I admit, a lot of the credit must likely go to the studio's Makeup Department, but still ...) The "young" Bayley is depicted by Hugh Bonneville, and the "old" version by Jim Broadbent. Bonneville is absolutely superb - a Best Supporting Actor Oscar is due - as the stammering, awkward, virginal and painfully shy 29-year old geek that wins the heart of young Iris. (This provides evidence, I guess, that even the Nerdy Guy sometimes get the Most Popular Girl.)

In an earlier review of 2001's THE SHIPPING NEWS, I remarked that Dench's competent performance in that film wasn't anything exceptional considering her great talent. On the other hand, her portrayal of the elderly and mentally decomposing Murdoch in IRIS is perhaps the greatest role I've ever seen her perform. It's undoubtedly Best Actress caliber.

IRIS takes an unsparing look at Alzheimer's Disease and the toll it takes both on the afflicted and the caregiver. It's not one to see if you're looking for a mood boost, but see it anyway.

4/5 I Have Forgot Much, Cynara
  by Linda McDonnell (Brooklyn, U.S.A)
Usually, that poem is quoted only because of its now-famous second line, "Gone with the wind, flung roses". "Iris" takes us on a journey through a wonderful marriage of two clever minds, a journey which takes one member unfortunately to the thieves' den of Alzheimer's Disease. In a way, I got pretty much the movie I expected at "Iris"--I knew that Judi Dench and Kate Winslet were both first-rate performers. I didn't know how the movie would be presented, however, with the juxtposition of then with now: We see Iris as a young woman played by Kate, and then Iris as an old woman played by Judi. I think that was a very good idea, because both women got equal time on the screen at pretty much the same time. It also allowed the writer and director to treat things thematically with comparison and contrast right off the bat, rather than the audience's having to recall something from two hours' earlier, if we had instead been given a strictly chronological treatment. I just marvelled at how well the movie was cast, appearance-wise. Young resembled old remarkably, unlike the implausible idea that roundish passionate Kate Winslet in time would ever turn into lean tepid Gloria Stuart back in "Titanic" days.

There's one especially telling scene, when Jim Broadbent, the husband of Alzheimer-afflicted Judi, finally breaks down and starts screaming and yelling at her in bed, his outburst drawn from the terrible abandonment he feels at the loss of his heretofore brilliant wife. We see the rage that the disease causes in survivors and caregivers, who seem to get nothing back no matter how tender the care they lavish on their loved ones.

Unlike "A Beautiful Mind", there can be no happy ending at the conclusion of "Iris"; Alzheimer's is a progressive disease the end stage of which is death. "Beautiful Mind" showed triumph through adversity, but that is not possible with every illness. Thus, "Iris", though undeniably a well-crafted piece, is tremendously sad. See it on a sunny afternoon, when you can still go out and enjoy what is left of your day; it is not a film to see and then face the dark uncertainty of night.