By Jack Ransom September 16, 2024
Going into this pretty much blind, all I knew was that it was a period setting and starred Sir Ian McKellen as the titular critic. The Critic will very much find its matinee audience (of which included me), though I feel some will be quite surprised with how dark this gets in the second half and how gleefully venomous, cocky and raucous McKellen is in the role. It’s just a shame that its plot threads are messily intertwined in the second half.
Synopsis
Based on the 2015 novel 'Curtain Call'. The Critic sees a powerful London theatre critic (Sir Ian McKellen) lure a struggling actress (Gemma Arterton) into a blackmail scheme that has deadly consequences.
Review
The Critic totters along its pulpy, melodramatic shenanigans at a consistent pace. We are introduced to the flamboyant yet ruthless, charming yet menacing Jimmy Erskine, as he and the “old guard” of The Chronicle newspaper are facing the threat of redundancy, when the new owner (Mark Strong), wants to aim for a more optimistic and informative stance, more so than Erskine’s graphic, and eloquently insulting theatrical reviews.
From here the film is largely a web of blackmails and double crosses, which are novel (if a little predictable) in their escalation and the film does touch on the bubbling homophobia and racism that was prominent during the time. However, it’s the side characters that get held back by the screenplay: there is an attempted love triangle that never feels fully realised and pacing-wise it does feel a little slow, before wrapping up swiftly.
Production-wise The Critic is strong, the dark slickness of the streets of 30’s London, neon-tinged lighting, bursts of sleazier, scrappy raucous partying, pristine wealthy clubs and homesteads. The lighting can feel a little overcast at times and there are a couple of distracting CGI establishing shots, but the costumes, tone and set designs bolster the cinematic scope of the visuals, as there is always the risk with these lower budget British flicks that they can look like straight-to-TV visually.
McKellen is clearly relishing the role as the snide, vitriolic, shifty and devious Erskine. At 85 McKellen still commits and bustles around the screen fully throwing himself into the contorted and judgmental mindset of the titular character. Gemma Arterton’s charming, snappy yet conflicted actress role is one that she dives into as she tries to prove herself to Erskine. Mark Strong, Ben Barnes and Lesley Manville are strong support cast.
The Critic is a decent period thriller with a great performance from McKellen at the centre and an immersive era atmosphere carry a screenplay that could have been more thrilling and engrossing with more tweaks. It has a few surprisingly dark pulp moments and is very watchable, however it never rises above decent overall.
Star Rating
The Critic is out now in cinemas
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