This film is not as good as it should be, given it stars the wonderful Ian McKellen in the lead role of drama critic Jimmy Erskine, ageing dandy and doyen of the London theatre scene, feared and courted by actors, directors and producers alike by virtue of his witty but often scathing reviews. 

The story is set in 1934.  Jimmy Erskine writes for The Daily Chronicle, an influential right-leaning newspaper owned by Viscount Brooke, a man who we learn counts Oswald Mosely among his friends. 

Erskine lunches with a cabal of fellow old coots, all very smug and set in their snobbish ways.   One of them is his mate, the opera critic.  They lunch at the same club, they sneer about the supposed ignorance of their readers, they snigger about the effect of their devastating reviews on aspiring performers. 

Then the elder Brooke dies and the paper passes to his son David, played by Mark Strong.  He’s determined to modernise and clear out some of the deadwood, which includes the opera critic, the first to be fired.  As for Jimmy Erskine, he demands that he take a softer line in his reviews.  ‘More beauty, less beast’, is the way he puts it. 

Erskine pays lip service but has no intention of toeing the line because he figures his towering reputation will protect him and the young Viscount Brooke won’t dare fire him.  At the time he’s unaware that Brooke has a secret passion for his latest victim, Nina Land (one-time Bond Girl Gemma Arterton), an aspiring actress of whose opening night performance Erskine had written that she ‘acted with the grace of a startled mule’. 

But he isn’t as invincible as he likes to think.  In fact he’s plenty vulnerable.  He’s gay, he’s reckless with his cruising and he dismisses all advice from those who point out the perils he’s courting.  He lives with his dark-skinned assistant and lover Tom Turner (Alfred Enoch) who brings out in him what few redeeming virtues he has: there’s courage and loyalty amid the overweening vanity and arrogance. 

Nina is bowed but not beaten by Erskine’s review.  Her feisty mother (Lesley Manville) urges her to fight back.  [She’s just had her own first-hand experience of Erskine’s rudeness after her attempt to chat him up on opening night backfires and he demands that theatre toadies remove her from his presence, shouting ‘I must be protected from the general public!’]

Nina confronts Erskine about his damning review.  He is unapologetic but she’s all eyes ears when she visits his stylish flat filled with mementoes of his youthful days on the stage and his critical awards. She learns a lot about his vanity and his transgressive lifestyle. 

The plot thickens.  Erskine and Tom are arrested for indecent behaviour and Brooke finally has a good excuse to fire him.  By now aware of Brooke’s soft spot for Nina, Erskine proposes a Faustian bargain to her:  she will seduce Brooke so Erskine can blackmail him into giving him and his opera critic mate their jobs back.  In return, Erskine will give Nina glowing reviews in future.   

But like all Faustian pacts tend to do, this one goes pear-shaped and no one comes out ahead.  There is guilt, treachery, suicide, murder, and a final reckoning. 

Despite the sterling cast and performances, I found The Critic a bit disappointing.  It’s based on a book (by Anthony Quinn – not THAT one) which I haven’t read, but a quick google check of the synopsis revealed certain plot elements had been changed or left out for the movie version, to the possible detriment of the narrative and character complexity of the story. 

Nevertheless it’s worth watching for McKellen’s performance alone. Throw in the fabulous art deco sets and music and you’ve got your money’s worth.