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‘The Critic’ Review: Ian McKellen Balances Desperation and Laughs in This Splendid Mix of Bitchy Mirth and Melodrama
Ian McKellen balances desperation and great laughs in 'The Critic,' which stars the actor as a theater critic.
Imagine an acerbic love child miraculously spawned by Addison DeWitt of “All About Eve” and Waldo Lydecker of “Laura,” with John Simon serving as midwife, and you will be prepared for Jimmy Erskine, the viciously witty and mercilessly demanding title character played with utterly delicious flamboyance by Ian McKellen in “ The Critic.” Directed by Anand Tucker(“Shopgirl”) and written by Patrick Marber (“Notes on a Scandal”), the film is a heady brew of period thriller, compelling melodrama and jet-black comedy, and the second most remarkable thing about it is how seamlessly these diverse elements gel. Repeatedly rising to the challenge of maneuvering through the film’s myriad plot twists and tonal shifts, McKellen is by turns imperiously hilarious, archly devious, forlornly melancholy and pathetically desperate. He then goes home to dictate to Tom (Alfred Enoch), his conspicuously younger manservant, typist and longtime companion, penning a notice that singles out for industrial-strength venom the leading lady, Nina Land (Gemma Arterton, a standout in an extremely tricky role).
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