As a critic preparing to write about The Critic, I feel somewhat intimidated. The eponymous writer at the center of Anand Tucker’s period drama, Jimmy Erskine (Ian McKellen), uses his words as weapons against the actors and directors who dare present him with a horrible performance. He’s brutal, and takes pleasure in each cutting word he has his loyal secretary Tom (Alfred Enoch) type up. I couldn’t be further from Jimmy, which is why it disappoints me to have to write that The Critic was far less fun than I had hoped it would be.

As the very revealing trailer suggests, The Critic is a sordid tale of blackmail, sex, and death. There’s an expectation it will be a campy delight, the kind of movie you watch to gasp and laugh at in equal measure. Instead, several creative decisions and underwritten characters left me underwhelmed. The movie gets off to a decent start, introducing us to Jimmy, a distinctive character played brilliantly by McKellen, who seems to relish his nastiness.

The Critic Is Stuffed With Characters & Twists
Very few make an impression

Jimmy is the lead drama critic for The Daily Chronicle, and he wears that position with undeniable pride. He also takes plenty of pleasure from its benefits, which is why a sudden change in management throws him for a loop. The previous owner of the paper has died, and his son, Viscount Brooke (Mark Strong), is taking over. Jimmy is used to reviewing theater in his own way, but his cruel opinions swiftly run afoul of how Brooke wants to do things. That, coupled with Jimmy’s well-known but never directly addressed queerness, makes him a target.

The back-and-forth between Jimmy and Brooke, representing the old guard and the new, might be enough to serve a meaty rivalry plot, but their stories are also intertwined with troubled actress Nina Land (Gemma Arterton). Though Nina often gains the praise of those around her, she’s never been able to please Jimmy, who, as Nina declares at one point, has likened her to “livestock, creatures of the sea, and an extinct bird.” Despite this, Jimmy soon realizes Nina might be the key to besting Brooke and maintaining his job.

Beyond Jimmy, few characters in
The Critic
stand out enough to register as key players.

It’s hard to gauge how much to reveal about The Critic’s plot, both because the trailer makes no secret about certain twists, and because said twists are easy to guess. Suffice it to say, Jimmy uses Nina to manipulate Brooke, and the fallout of this is messy. It also implicates the figures around the central trio, including the aforementioned Tom, lovelorn artist Stephen (Ben Barnes), and Stephen’s wife, Cora (Romola Garai), who happens to be Brooke’s daughter.

Beyond Jimmy, few characters in The Critic stand out enough to register as key players. Though Barnes is always a welcome presence, his storyline is noticeably separate from everything else initially, and later developments that bring him closer to the central narrative only make him feel more extraneous. The great Lesley Manville is wasted in a small part as Nina’s mom. Most frustratingly, we’re meant to believe Jimmy and Tom have a long, complex relationship, but they barely get enough moments together to sell it. This only makes the ending, which needs this dynamic to work, fall flat.

The Critic’s Choppy Editing Adds To Its Storytelling Woes
It makes for a dull scandal

The exception to The Critic’s character problem is Nina, with Arterton giving an excellent performance that lends depth to a character who falls into more than a few stereotypes. For all that The Critic tries to appear daring, it is actually a rather straightforward and familiar tale. It hits all the beats one would expect from a drama like this, from the various deaths that crop up to the affairs.

McKellen and Arterton are the clear winners here, as the dynamic between Jimmy and Nina is actually the most fascinating element of the whole movie.

Tucker opted to rely on clever editing to inject some intrigue into the story, but the overall effect is more choppy than graceful. The film often cuts abruptly to different scenes and times, as if to set up for a grand reveal, but it only serves to muddy the narrative and add to the frustration. This is particularly true at the end, when The Critic skips past a major development and instead conveys it via a newspaper headline glimpsed over someone’s shoulder.

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What we’re left with is a movie with fantastic actors giving great performances, except few get the chance to do something, and the story they’re inhabiting thinks it’s more scandalous than it is. I desperately wanted to see more from Enoch, whose character seemed far more compelling than the scenes he was given. McKellen and Arterton are the clear winners here, as the dynamic between Jimmy and Nina is the most fascinating element of the movie. The odd mentor-mentee relationship that springs up between them leads to some great scenes. I wish the rest of The Critic matched that quality.

The Critic releases in theaters on Friday, September 13. It is 101 minutes long and rated R for some language and sexual content.