The Critic (2023)

The Critic (2023). 1h 41m | R

“If you saw Sir Ian McKellen with fellow thesp Sir Derek Jacobi in the television sitcom u0026quot;Viciousu0026quot; from around ten years ago, youu0026#39;ll be able to anticipate the gist of his characterisation of the acerbic theatre critic u0026quot;Erskineu0026quot; who is way more famed for distributing bile rather than bouquets. His new boss (Mark Strong) wants the newspaper to appeal to an altogether more wholesome family audience and so wants him to tone things down a bit. u0026quot;Yeah, rightu0026quot; thinks he – and then his own behaviour gets him into trouble with the police and given one monthu0026#39;s notice from his job. Facing looming ignominy, he determines to get the lowdown on his ostensibly pure as the driven snow aristocratic proprietor and to that end recruits aspiring actress u0026quot;Ninau0026quot; (Gemma Arterton) of whom he has been much less than flattering in the past. Rather gullibly, she agrees to become a pawn in his manipulate game that leads to a series of misadventures and thence to a tragedy that maybe puts the role of opinionated curmudgeon into perspective. This starts of quite entertainingly with plenty of pith and ghastliness from the star, but very quickly it descends into an entirely far-fetched and rather disappointing affair (no pun intended) that plays to just about every stereotype as it rather sadly sets out to prove that the best bits are all in the trailers. At itu0026#39;s best, the writing does make you smile and writhe a little uncomfortably in your cinema seat, but for the most part itu0026#39;s just predicable with characters that itu0026#39;s fairly easy not to like – except, maybe, Alfred Enochu0026#39;s factotum u0026quot;Tomu0026quot; whom at least starts off with some shred of human decency to counter u0026quot;Erskineu0026quot; and his selfishness. Ben Barnes shows he is ageing well but again hasnu0026#39;t really enough of a part to work with developing his lovestruck character and Strong is really anything but. It does look good, but itu0026#39;s too reliant on a shock factor that isnu0026#39;t so very original and that soon peters out.”