The Critic: Film Review
The prospect of Ian McKellen playing a cruel theatre critic was very appealing to me. He absolutely shines in the role but unfortunately, The Critic is disappointing as a whole.
Set in 1930s London, Jimmy Erskine (McKellen) of the Daily Chronicle is the most feared theatre critic around. Nobody wants to be on the other end of his savage opinions. His editor David (Mark Strong) asks him to tone down his nasty reviews or risk losing his job. Determined not to lose his position in society, Jimmy orchestrates a blackmail plot involving actress Nina Land (Gemma Arterton), the latest victim of his acid-tongued write-up.
This begins as a sharp comedy about the relationship between a critic and the latest victim of his takedowns. I found this exploration to be the most interesting part of the film. It is also quite funny as you can’t help but laugh at Jimmy’s vile put-downs or his lack of remorse. He is an egotistical man who only wants the cream of the crop in the theatre, everyone else be damned.
The film started to lose me as it became darker and more of a thriller as a result of the blackmail plot. The biggest problem is that it’s simply not thrilling. There isn’t much depth to the supporting characters so you don’t really care what happens to them. One plot development is clearly designed to be moving but I felt nothing – I had no investment in anybody, even Jimmy.
The Critic is an ensemble piece but it should have been more of a star vehicle for McKellen because I lost interest whenever he wasn’t on-screen. And that happened quite a lot thanks to an affair between Nina and an artist named Stephen (Ben Barnes). There were too many characters when it should have been stripped back to Jimmy and his assistant Tom (Alfred Enoch), Nina and David. Everyone else is superfluous, particularly Romola Garai and Claire Skinner, who have nothing to do.
The first half showed great potential and I loved McKellen as Erskine but the second half let it down entirely.
In cinemas on Friday 13th September
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.
