{"id":53293,"date":"2025-09-09T16:30:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T16:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/53293\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T16:30:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T16:30:07","slug":"ian-mckellen-michaela-coel-do-soderbergh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/53293\/","title":{"rendered":"Ian McKellen & Michaela Coel Do Soderbergh"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tShake the family trees of many celebrated artists nearing the end of their lives and you\u2019re likely to find at least one heir plotting how to keep the cash cow going postmortem, in the meantime guiding arthritic hands to sign every last doodle that might be worth something. Not to mention wincing in pain any time another museum donation gets shipped off. In The Christophers<\/a>, Steven Soderbergh<\/a>\u2019s crafty comedy about legacy, forgery, unbridled greed and resentments, the grasping adult offspring of a once celebrated painter are the embodiment of avaricious scheming. They won\u2019t miss the old man, but they\u2019ll miss the sums his work can fetch.<\/p>\n

\n\tWritten by Ed Solomon, who collaborated with Soderbergh on the twisty neo-noir No Sudden Move<\/a> as well as the TV series Mosaic and Full Circle<\/a>, the film is a talky chamber piece that\u2019s virtually a two-hander and could just as easily have been a play. But the verbal sparring between Michaela Coel<\/a> and Ian McKellen<\/a> as characterological opposites who find tricky common ground, would make for smart entertainment in any medium.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe Christophers\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tThe Bottom Line<\/p>\n

\tAn impeccable paint job.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVenue<\/strong>: Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentations)
Cast<\/strong>: Michaela Coel, Ian McKellen, Jessica Gunning, James Corden
Director<\/strong>: Steven Soderbergh
Screenwriter<\/strong>: Ed Solomon
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1 hour 39 minutes\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\tMcKellen plays Julian Sklar, first seen looking the epitome of the gone-to-seed painter in a rumpled plaid chore coat, scarf and beret in his rambling double-front townhouse on a posh London square. Inside, the place is as decrepit as Julian, every corner cluttered with canvases, papers and enough dusty ephemera to warm the heart of any hoarder. (Kudos to production designer Antonia Lowe.)<\/p>\n

\n\tHis cachet as an esteemed art world figure waned decades ago. But his celebrity stock rose after his productivity had petered out when he became a vituperative judge on a TV reality contest show called Art Fight, pouring scorn on the awful kitten paintings of children and housewives.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe notoriety he gained from being vicious on national television has allowed him to earn a meager income recording personalized messages on a Cameo-type platform. Which means he now has a laptop and an LED donut lamp in place of an easel. He also drew TV coverage for a \u201cSidewalk Salon,\u201d when he sold his paintings at bargain prices as a big FU to the commercialized art world.<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong Julian\u2019s most highly prized and lucrative works were two series called \u201cThe Christophers,\u201d named for a significant figure in his life, whom he recalls with sadness and regret, unlike the scavenger children he scathingly refers to as \u201cbuzzard Barnaby\u201d (James Corden<\/a>) and \u201cthe hyena Sally\u201d (Jessica Gunning<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\n\tWhispers have long circulated among art collectors that a third series of Christophers exists unfinished, which could potentially go for millions if they were ever completed and put on the market. It\u2019s that series that Barnaby and Sally plan to get their money-grubbing paws on, having already burned through the considerable sum they made off other paintings by their father.<\/p>\n

\n\tThey contact Lori Butler (Coel), who was at Saint Martins College with Sally, though Julian later points out that his pushy no-talent daughter enrolled strictly via the nepotism program. (A painting by Sally dragged out to prove her father\u2019s point is the movie\u2019s most brilliant sight gag.) Since Lori\u2019s art restoration business dried up, she\u2019s been running a food truck. But Sally remembers her uncanny skill at copying other artists\u2019 work, down to the finest details.<\/p>\n

\n\tPositing that restoration and forgery are not so very different, Sally and Barnaby convince Lori to get herself hired as their father\u2019s assistant, then gain his trust and full access to his house, the aim being to remove the eight unfinished canvasses from storage, complete them and then return them to storage to be claimed after their father\u2019s death. The siblings offer her a third of the sale proceeds. They also remind Lori of her acrimony toward Julian: \u201cWe know why you hate him. Think of this as a way to get revenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSo far so intriguing. While the pacing slackens here and there, Soderbergh (who also shot and edited the film under his usual pseudonyms) is in loose, playful mode, trading the exacting control of Presence<\/a> and the seductive sheen of Black Bag<\/a> for a more unmanicured look, with lots of nimble handheld camera and sharp framing to goose up the character interactions. Seriously, who else drops three distinctive features in the same year? (Presence technically was 2024, given that it premiered last year at Sundance.)<\/p>\n

\n\tFrom the moment Lori steps through the front door and first sets eyes on the creaky octogenarian (\u201cNever get old,\u201d is perhaps the warmest thing he says to her during that first encounter), it\u2019s clear that the pairing of Coel and McKellen will deliver scintillating friction. Lori barely gets a word in throughout the \u201cinterview\u201d as Julian tirelessly bloviates, though she does establish that the unfinished Christophers are indeed locked away on the third floor. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s the cue for Soderbergh and Solomon to put the plan into action and then throw a succession of wrenches in it \u2014 compromising knowledge surfaces; a battle of wills ensues; hidden agendas are exposed; and blackmail, betrayal and double-crosses are stirred into the mix as the power dynamic keeps shifting. Somehow, the upper hand never lingers long with Sally and Barnaby, drolly played by Gunning and Corden as a conniving Tweedledee and Tweedledum, loyal to no one and convinced their venality is justified by their father\u2019s history of terrible parenting.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the d\u00e9tente between Julian and Lori couldn\u2019t consistently be described as either complicity or duplicity \u2014 two Soderbergh favorites \u2014 they develop an understanding of sorts, which adds underlayers of bruised disappointment that they seem to recognize in each other, without ever relinquishing their cunning.<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the funniest interludes is when Julian reveals that he knows exactly who and what the supposed art world newbie is. \u201cNever underestimate the internet prowess of a man who has spent decades Googling himself,\u201d says Julian, delivered by McKellen with the touch\u00e9 flourish of a master of the bon mot.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe even reads excerpts from a blistering takedown article Lori wrote about him years earlier, in which she opines that \u201chis only outrage against cancel culture came after he had been canceled himself.\u201d Solomon doesn\u2019t go deep into the cause, though we have no trouble imagining Julian\u2019s blunt transgressions. This is a man never shy about expressing his disdain, who puts Andy Warhol and \u201cDogs Playing Poker\u201d on the same level \u2014 ironically, something with which Warhol might have agreed.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s revealed that Sklar was Lori\u2019s inspiration as a child to become an artist, only to crush that spark a dozen or so years later with stinging cruelty. In a knockout scene, she stuns Julian into uncharacteristic speechlessness with a detailed and highly articulate analysis of Series 1 and 2 of \u201cThe Christophers,\u201d in terms of both variations in technique and the evolving emotional state of the artist. Her forensic ability to read in the eyes of his subject specifics like when Julian was falling in love and when he was coming out as queer seems entirely accurate.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe unguarded personal reflections this prompts from Julian are profoundly moving, especially when coming from a towering actor who has also been a prominent gay activist for decades. While further revelations about \u201cChristopher\u201d feel somewhat rushed, the movie concludes on a resonant note.<\/p>\n

\n\tThroughout his prolific 40-year career, Soderbergh has proven himself a great director of actors, evident here in every moment McKellen or Coel are onscreen, and doubly so when they share scenes.<\/p>\n

\n\tMcKellen plays offense with wicked glee, but it\u2019s when he lets vulnerability and hurt peek through the cracks in Julian\u2019s sardonic armor that the performance soars highest. At 86, the actor remains in peerless form. Coel, the boundary-pushing revelation from I May Destroy You<\/a>, is a perfect foil, hiding Lori\u2019s feelings behind her deadpan delivery, unblinking sphinx-like stare and wary body language but poised to shoot barbs when the moment calls for them.<\/p>\n

\n\tFew are going to rate The Christophers as top-tier Soderbergh, but it bats about ideas pertaining to art, commerce, ownership and legacy with dexterous aplomb and boasts two equally superb leads who make the material crackle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shake the family trees of many celebrated artists nearing the end of their lives and you\u2019re likely to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[18,117,7198,19,17,39009,39010,39011,327,39012,34328,11523,33190,22536,13245,9445],"class_list":{"0":"post-53293","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ian-mckellen","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-james-corden","14":"tag-jessica-gunning","15":"tag-michaela-coel","16":"tag-movies","17":"tag-steven-soderbergh","18":"tag-the-christophers","19":"tag-tiff","20":"tag-tiff-2025","21":"tag-toronto-2025","22":"tag-toronto-film-festival","23":"tag-toronto-international-film-festival"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}