No. 79 (2023) THE CRITIC. (Palace; Australia British Film Festival). Nov. 3rd.

 

Film No. 79  (2023)  November 3rd.  6:30 PM  LUNA LEEDERVILLE,  Cine 1, Leederville.

 

"It may well be that sticks and stones cause far more damage than Nina might well have first thought!" (A modern day critic sums up THE CRITIC).

OFFICIAL SELECTION: Best Feature (Anand Tucker) Toronto Film Festival. 

This dark, costume drama is built around a legend of the screen, Ian McKellen. It's melodrama, it's uneven but never the less compelling. Jimmy Erskine (McKellen), the critic for London's The Daily Chronicle,  can impact on an actors career at the stroke of his pen. Gemma Arterton is Nina, an ambitious performer who craves some "love" from Erskine. Those reviews are not forthcoming. Nina must devise a strategy to change this. 

If you enjoyed THE GOOD LIAR, where McKellen showed his range as a dastardly character and you hold an appreciation for Arterton and Mark Strong's on-screen charisma, then there is plenty to like in THE CRITIC. Not least,  Patrick Marber's (NOTES ON A SCANDAL) layered script. THE CRITIC is based on a Novel, Curtain Call by Anthony Quinn which reads like a pulp novel from the 30's. Clever, considering Quinn wrote the book only 8 years ago!

The real star of THE CRITIC is its visuals. The film is richly designed. Film is all about escaping to another world. Here we enter an era where the cinema has a responsibility to give it's audience a sense of a time nearly 100 years ago. Accolades  must be extended to Lucienne Suren (Production Design) and Amanda George (Set Decoration). Darkness, with the possibility of a macabre twist, is what the THE CRITIC is all about.  9GUMS.