Critic, The (DVD Review)
- Review Date: Jan 22, 2025
- Format: DVD
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Director
Anand TuckerRelease Date(s)
2023 (December 3, 2024)Studio(s)
BKStudios/Fearless Minds/Seven Stories (Greenwich Entertainment/Kino Lorber)- Film/Program Grade: A
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: C
Review
Movies about the theater take us backstage where the drama is often greater than on stage. The setting offers opportunities for many genres, from broad comedy (The Producers) to horror (Theatre of Blood). In perhaps the best dramatic film ever made about backstage intrigue, All About Eve, a legendary actress finds her career threatened by an ambitious young fan. The machinations of live performance and the eccentric personalities that inhabit the milieu never cease to fascinate audiences. In The Critic, the focus is a longtime, powerful British play reviewer.
Jimmy Erskine (Ian McKellen, X-Men: Days of Future Past) is the feared drama critic for The Daily Chronicle, a conservative newspaper in early 1930s London. His acerbic wit is dreaded by every actor on the London stage because a negative comment from him can derail careers. The aging Jimmy, a not-so-closeted gay man at a time when homosexuality was a crime, lives with his secretary Tom (Alfred Enoch, the Harry Potter films), a much younger man who’s also his lover.
David Brooke (Mark Strong, Shazam!), son of the Chronicle’s late publisher, is fond of actress Nina Land (Gemma Arterton, The King’s Man). He’s distressed by Jimmy’s consistently scathing reviews of Nina’s performances and asks him to tone down the invective. Brooke is also on a mission to trim the paper’s costs. For both reasons, he would like to have an unchallengeable cause to replace Jimmy. Meanwhile, Nina is having an affair with artist Stephen Wyley (Ben Barnes, Seventh Son), who’s married to Brooke’s daughter, Cora (Romolo Garai, Atonement).
When a drunken Jimmy and Tom are arrested and jailed for performing an indecent act in a public place, Brooke forces Jimmy to retire. But Jimmy refuses to go off into obscurity without a fight. Certain that all men have secrets, Jimmy determines to gain leverage against Brooke by discovering his and Nina is the perfect person to do it. Jimmy induces her to cooperate by promising glowing reviews for all her future performances. Though Nina hesitates initially, she finds this Faustian deal irresistible and the intrigue is afoot.
McKellen is wonderful as Jimmy—funny, mean, arrogant, vengeful, frequently drunk, and even charming…in his own way. McKellen provides Jimmy with layers of nuance that make him a fascinating study in desperation. Whether watching a play and taking notes, trying to avoid an angry actress on the street, manipulating his enemies, or parrying embarrassing questions about his sexuality, there’s an hauteur about him suggesting that he’s always in charge of the game. Jimmy defines himself by his profession. Without that, he’s just an old man. Reviewing plays keeps him in the loop of the theatrical world he loves. His reviews give him power, and he cherishes that.
As Nina, Arterton has the difficult task of playing a not-great actress when her character is on stage, and she accomplishes this subtly, without broad strokes that would veer her performance into caricature. She’s adept at conveying Nina’s well-deserved indignation when she confronts Jimmy about his litany of awful reviews, and proves she’s a pretty good actress after all when she plays her part in Jimmy’s scheme.
Strong plays Brooke as serious and buttoned-down—a man who hides his emotions when they might betray his social position. He argues against the blackmail plot and believes he has the upper hand, given Jimmy’s proclivities, but he’s taken aback when Jimmy goes ahead with it and succeeds. Strong is the film’s straight man/villain/antagonist.
The Critic, based on the play Curtain Call, is dominated by dialogue, but it’s witty, biting, and often funny. This is the kind of dialogue that sparkles. Screenwriter Patrick Marber includes a number of scenes of Jimmy in his element—sitting in judgment, making catty remarks to Tom, savoring his power to determine the fate of the play and the actors he’s watching. Director Anand Tucker has opened up the original play so that we see London streets, cars, costumes, and theater marquees of the period.
The film’s production design is outstanding, beautifully bringing 1930s London to life. The women’s dresses, Jimmy’s suits, the stiff men’s collars, and the formal dinner clothes perfectly reflect the period. Jimmy’s home is filled with interesting decor and has a cluttered but oddly organized look. His home is visually an extension of his professional work.
Featuring a clever script and uniformly first-rate performances, The Critic excels primarily because of Ian McKellen, who brings the perfect blend of charm, acrimony, and larceny to his performance. This is a film that theater lovers will embrace, but it’s also for those who enjoy solid acting. The mostly British cast and period setting are prime assets. The film shows how ambition can drive a person to extremes, whether for admirable or sinister reasons.
The Critic is presented on DVD in the aspect ratio of 2.29:1. Director of photography David Higgs gives the film a warm look with classic lighting and use of shadow. Fireplaces glow with crackling flames, audiences sit in darkness as actors perform on brightly lit stages, and Jimmy’s cozy home brims with the memorabilia and bric-a-brac of a lifetime. Cigarette smoke is dominant in many scenes and, when backlit, creates interesting patterns. The color palette ranges from warm browns and deep blues to brighter hues in Nina’s clothes. Complexions are well rendered. Close-ups reveal Jimmy’s deep character lines, wrinkles, and sagging jowls.
There are two soundtrack options: English 5.1 Surround and 2.0 Stereo Dolby Digital. English SDH subtitles are available. Dialogue is clear and distinct. McKellen slurs his speech when his character, Jimmy, is drunk. Speech from the play excerpts within the film is intentionally theatrical—loud and mannered.
Bonus materials on the DVD release from Greenwich Entertainment via Kino Lorber include the following:
- Behind the Scenes Featurette (3:19)
- Trailer (2:23)
- Mad About the Boy: The Noel Coward Story Trailer (1:57)
- Coup! Trailer (2:15)
- Food and Country Trailer (2:25)
- Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Field Trailer (2:12)
Behind the Scenes Featurette – Actors Ian McKellen, Mark Strong, Ben Barnes, Romola Gerai, Alfred Enoch, and screenwriter Patrick Marber offer their thoughts on The Critic. McKellen refers to his character, Jimmy, as “a rascal.” The actors speak about Anand Tucker’s style of directing. Scenes of the crew shooting a few scenes are interspersed with the “talking heads.” The Critic is called “an imaginative recreation of a world that doesn’t exist anymore.”
The Critic is a successful adaptation of a stage play. Anand Tucker’s thoughtful direction allows us to see many facets of Jimmy’s character. Despite his vicious reviews, he possesses a charm that can be disarming. He nurses grudges against his enemies and not above seeking retribution for slights. Colorful characters often drive a film. In this case, it’s Jimmy who sits firmly behind the wheel.
- Dennis Seuling