BK Studios
Greenwich Entertainment
Seven Stories
Not part of a collection.
The Critic
Ambition seduces. Power corrupts.
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 dies, and his son 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 a struggling actress, entangling them and the boss in a thrilling but deadly web of desire, blackmail, and betrayal.
- Original title
- The Critic
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US,GB
- Budget
- —
- Revenue
- $824,517
CinemaSerf
Sep 22, 2024 · via TMDB
If you saw Sir Ian McKellen with fellow thesp Sir Derek Jacobi in the television sitcom "Vicious" from around ten years ago, you'll be able to anticipate the gist of his characterisation of the acerbic theatre critic "Erskine" 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. "Yeah, right" thinks he - and then his own behaviour gets him into trouble with the police and given one month'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 "Nina" (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 it's best, the writing does make you smile and writhe a little uncomfortably in your cinema seat, but for the most part it's just predicable with characters that it's fairly easy not to like - except, maybe, Alfred Enoch's factotum "Tom" whom at least starts off with some shred of human decency to counter "Erskine" and his selfishness. Ben Barnes shows he is ageing well but again hasn't really enough of a part to work with developing his lovestruck character and Strong is really anything but. It does look good, but it's too reliant on a shock factor that isn't so very original and that soon peters out.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Ian McKellen
Jimmy Erskine
Gemma Arterton
Nina Land
Mark Strong
David Brooke
Lesley Manville
Annabel Land
Ben Barnes
Stephen Wyley
Romola Garai
Cora Wyley
Alfred Enoch
Tom Tunner
Ron Cook
Hugh Morris
Claire Skinner
Mary Brooke
Matthew Cottle
Graham Meadows
Beau Gadsdon
Freya
Nikesh Patel
Ferdy Harwood
Rebecca Gethings
Joan
Éva Magyar
Dolly Langdon
Jay Simpson
Slyfield
Jacob James Beswick
Robbie
Nicholas Bishop
Richard Pugh
Griffin Stevens
Lodovico
Avye Leventis
Lizzie
Jasper Britton
Gideon Lambert
Pearce Quigley
Mr. Morrisey
Eleanor Wyld
Isabella / Viola
Ross Armstrong
Oswald Mosley (uncredited)
Grant Crookes
Critic (uncredited)
Ty Hurley
Private Members Club / Bar Patron (uncredited)
James McNicholas
Hospital PC (uncredited)
Anand Tucker
Director
Robert Sterne
Casting
Anand Tucker
Executive Producer
Mark Gordon
Executive Producer
Patrick Marber
Executive Producer
Jolyon Symonds
Producer
Craig Armstrong
Original Music Composer
Patrick Marber
Writer
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