Based on the books (Iris: A Memoir and Elegy for Iris) penned by John Bayley in the wake of his wife, Iris Murdoch's, death, Iris is a standard dramatic biopic of the renowned novelist and philosopher. Told in two separate, but interwoven parts, Iris traces both the early days of the relationship between the writer and her suitor in her Oxford days (played by Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville, respectively) and the final days of the pair together (Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent). Primarily thanks to the stand out performances of Dench and especially Broadbent as the long-suffering Bayley, this is a charming, if slightly cumbersome, piece of work. While his actors are outstanding, Eyre's direction lacks a certain sparkle, trading between the two stories as if it's a competition for supremacy rather than a truly cohesive effort. As you'd expect, interest is the first casualty.
