Another film that premiered at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last week was Anand Tucker’s The Critic, a period drama set in London during 1934. The two lead characters are Jimmy Erskine (Ian McKellen), an elderly queer theater critic facing the loss of his job, and Nina Land (Gemma Arterton), a thirty-something actress for whom success has been elusive. The early part of the film brings Erskine and Land together because Land has been craving Erskine’s approbation for years. Instead, all she gets is his ire for her lack of craft; Erskine has made a long career out of writing scathing reviews. However, the changing of the guard in terms of leadership at the paper he writes for brings in the son (Mark Strong) of Erskine’s former editor-in-chief, and the son does not have much tolerance for Erskine’s indulgences or the way he writes reviews. To not rock the boat becomes the watchword of the new regime.
The film takes place against a backdrop of rising fascism and as someone who does not conceal his queer activities, Erskine flirts with the danger his proclivity for ‘rough trade’ engenders. He enjoys flirting with danger as he later informs Land – as in theatre, it is the danger and delight in the possibilities of the unknown that pull him forward. Whether the film lives up to this sense of ‘danger’ and ‘excitement’ is another thing. It is loosely based on a novel called Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn and though I have not read the novel, it seems as if the novel possesses a lot more characters, takes delight in a more complicated account of its characters, and mixes its intrigue and humour with finesse. Much of this has been boiled down in the film which seems very ham-fisted, broadly drawn, appealing perhaps to Downtown Abbey fans through a velvety theatricality.
The over-theatrical nature of the film also extends to its lighting (fairly dark and artificial) and camera work (hurried and obtuse), so the film hopes the plot will keep the audience in thrall. The plot does get good when Erskine tries to make an alliance with Land, getting her to play the role of a lifetime by pretending to seduce Erskine’s boss in exchange for rave reviews. The characters are their most sympathetic at this point when they resort to crossing lines they never would have before in order to get or keep what they want out of desperation. The unravelling of the machinations and blackmail and the other relationships and performances are not so enticing. It’s disappointing to give a bad review to a film which starts off with a lead character who doles out bad reviews but it doesn’t seem as if McKellen is anything except hammy in this film. Arterton, similarly, had a lot of promise fifteen years ago but has sort of flattened out in terms of her career and performances.
This all begs the question: were these actors specifically cast because McKellen is gay and Arterton didn’t achieve the stardom that seemed within her horizon fifteen years ago? More troubling is the construction of McKellen’s gay character who hearkens back to the old stereotype of the twisted queer, something that was prevalent in films of the twentieth century. Director Anand Tucker was there at the screening, along with screenwriter Patrick Marber, and cast members Arterton, Ben Barnes, and Alfred Enoch. McKellen zoomed in from London where he is engaged in a play that requires daily performances. However, with all the people on stage, no one person talked very much and we only got passing brief comments from the actors. Besides Tucker raving about Marber’s scriptwriting abilities, we didn’t get much of a sense as to whether the cast felt a personal attachment to this project or to their characters. McKellen did say that he was amazed that Arterton could produce tears on cue but one feels that with all of McKellen’s accomplishments and accolades, this shouldn’t have amazed him so much at this point.
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