Last Updated on September 15, 2024 by
The movie is about a man named Jimmy who is a theatre critic on assignment writing and talking ill of plays throughout life in London. He is one of those people who actively seeks a way to criticize other people’s projects through writing. But still, the movie itself has minor issues; it is quite fascinating to see how far it goes in viewing the worst in people. It is written by Patrick Marber, adapted from the novel by Anthony Quinn, and directed by Anaud Tucker. It premieres the message of how people manipulate each other. It is not as dark as is expected with death games. Still, it does occasionally turn creepy and suspenseful, especially when it comes to Jimmy, played by Ian McKellen, a bitter man who seeks revenge.
Jimmy is 47 years old, and he has been a drama critic for over 40 years for a local newspaper company called The Daily Chronicle. He has cultivated an audience that enjoys watching him critique new plays in his very blunt manner. The newspaper is later inherited by David, the son of the owner when the latter dies – Mark Strong.
David does not like Jimmy and most of the other writers around his age and wants to hire new talent. At the same time, Jimmy pens a distasteful review where he brutalizes an actress, Nina, portrayed by Gemma Arterton, and her acting skills. Jimmy is also not doing very well in his personal life at the moment. He is not completely out to his friends and colleagues as being gay, but he is struggling to keep this aspect of himself concealed. When David decides that he can fire him, Jimmy realizes that he won’t fold his hands and standstill for anybody; he is going to fight back. He conceives a scheme concerning the other persons in his life. He gives Nina positive feedback if she sleeps with David, who, unbeknownst to her, has been harboring feelings for her. Jimmy plans to use this to threaten David into letting him keep his job.
But it gets worse. Nina has a boyfriend, Stephen (Ben Barnes), who is a painter who has an affair with his wife, and David’s daughter, Cora (Romola Garai), who is also involved in all the affairs. Amid the story, the readers can see the wicked persona of Jimmy in him. He loves bringing downplays and actors that he thinks do not deserve to be on stage, and he also gets to have free good food and be treated like a celebrity. At the same time, there is the vicious, nasty side of Jimmy. He is promiscuous and has an affair with his secretary, Tom (Alfred Enoch), and goes on to indulge in unprotected intercourse with strangers.
And Nina, well, she has never been so defeated after a review as she is after Jimmy’s one. She is experiencing some self-esteem issues and has issues with memorizing the script for an upcoming part. In addition to that, she has to both love Stephen and keep her job.
Jimmi later provides her an opportunity to escape the humiliating situation under the condition that she becomes his accomplice in blackmailing other students; she takes the offer, sparking a series of betrayals. The movie catches its pace in the middle part of the movie. The plan to save Jimmy’s job gets much darker, and Nina feels repulsed by the whole scenario.
The story leans towards being very dark in this part as Jimmy’s plot deepens, and those who are around him get more and more involved in cover-ups and deception. However, in the last twenty minutes or so, the movie does lose some of its bite. Whereas it sets itself up as a possible evil, an intense drama piece, it backs down from the dark and attempts to provide a measure of justice satisfying for the viewer, which is not quite in tune with the expectation the initial scenario brought about.
Thus, despite some incoherent discourse, this movie has some advantages. Ian McKellen fits perfectly into the role of Jimmy, and it is rather unpleasant but interesting to watch him. : There are also some impressive interactions between the characters; there are also some exciting scenes. However, as the end credits start to roll, the spectator gets the impression that the movie could have been even darker. Some of the characters, like Nina’s mother, portrayed by Lesley Manville, are underwritten, and the conclusion seems far too optimistic for a movie about such a mean, clumsy tramp like Jimmy.
Thus, I stand firm in my opinion that “The Critic” is a film rife with manipulation, revenge, and moral degeneration. It’s quite entertaining to look at, mainly for the psychological drama and the flawed and selfish protagonists. However, it could have given a much better message and a stronger conclusion.
The Critic Parents Guide Age Rating
The Critic is rated R by the Motion Picture Rating (MPA) for some language and sexual content.
