Overview
Jimmy Erskine is the most feared theatre critic of the age. He lives as flamboyantly as he writes and takes pleasure in savagely taking down any actor who fails to meet his standards. When the owner of the Daily Chronicle newspaper dies, and his son David Brooke takes over, Jimmy quickly finds himself at odds with his new boss and his position under threat. In an attempt to preserve the power and influence he holds so sacred, Jimmy strikes a Faustian pact with struggling actress Nina Land, entangling them and Brooke in a thrilling but deadly web of desire, blackmail, and betrayal.
Set in 1934, The Critic sees Ian McKellen play Jimmy Erskine, the theatre critic of note who writes for The Chronicle. His reviews are always the talk of the town, with a biting vitriol and almost a sense of disdain towards the very art he writes about. When the owner of the paper passes away and his son, David Brooke (Mark Strong), takes the reins, changes in the stance of the paper see Jimmy being told to tone down his style, and his lifestyle, to better reflect the family demograph The Chronicle is aimed at. Jimmy, you see, is a homosexual, and his encounters with the law have proven to be a problem. But when he ends up being asked to leave the paper after one too many disgraces, Jimmy works with young actress Nina (Gemma Arterton) on a revenge blackmail scheme against David.
This is a pretty uneven film, that meanders around far too much before getting to the meat of the tale – the blackmail plot – and then doesn’t entirely deliver on the promises it sets out to make. The period setting allows for an interesting exploration into the lifestyle of Erskine, at a time when homosexuality was outlawed, we see how Jimmy delves into the dark and dangerously seedy underworld of the night to fulfil his drunken desires. But there never feels like there is any weight to these explorations, and maybe if the film had focussed instead on Jimmy’s relationship with his secretary Tom (Alfred Enoch), it would have had more depth. Ben Barnes is on hand as the son in law of Brooke, who is also the lover of the young actress for who he has a fascination, but again this feels underserved as a sub-plot, making the eventual climax of that element feel a little flat.
However, McKellen simply shines from start to finish, and largely props up what would otherwise be a forgettable period piece. He takes pleasure in every spit and bite of malicious dialogue that Jimmy fires out, both in his reviews and in his direct exchanges. His drunken pomposity on display, even when simply glanced taking notes at a play, you can hear the venom being churned in his mind, ready to spew out in yet another review. There’s something wonderful to hate about Jimmy, who is certainly not a person easy to warm to, but thanks to the layers that McKellen brings, it is also easy to root for him as a somewhat underdog lashing out against the system oppressing him.
Simply put this is a pretty standard period film that uses the period setting well, but never really explores any of the individual ideas it has in satisfactory ways, and is worth seeing purely for a marvellously devilish central performance by McKellen.