Contains spoilers
*****
McKellen the sublime artist
The Christophers are a series of portraits, unfinished, by renowned and curmudgeonly artist Julian Sklar, depicting the love of his life, a man who was his partner during the 1990s after his divorce. Sklar cannot bring himself to finish, nor even to look at these works. He claims that his artistic talent has disappeared. In fact, the relationship break-up was, and still is so painful to him that he has dispatched them to a forgotten corner of his attic, a clear metaphor for the repression of a psychological trauma.
James Corden and the Nessa-like Jessica Gunning feature as Sklar’s thirty-something children, Barnaby and Sallie, scheming to get the paintings finished so that, after their father’s death, they can sell them as originals for millions. Michaela Coel is hired as the once aspiring artist (Lori Butler) tasked with secretly completing the works. Sklar is certainly no fool, and having unearthed the forgery plot he turns the tables on his children, with Lori’s help, to thwart their mercenary ambitions.
McKellen is brilliant throughout, convincing, sharp, shrewd, rude, and a mixture of thick-skinned and painfully vulnerable. One feels for Sklar, despite his determination to be unliked. Coel, too, is excellent; male, female, black, white, young, old, the binary polarisations do not mask the essential bonds that bind this odd couple. Ed Solomon’s script works well, except for the pseudo-intellectual critique that Lori delivers to Sklar early in the relationship. It is the only point where the film feels like a film, an artefact, rehearsed and delivered. The rest is convincing.
Sklar’s bluntness is a vehicle for some great put-downs and one-liners, delivered with understated relish by the masterful McKellen. ‘The worst piece of art since dogs playing poker, and the whole of Warhol’ he opines about his disappointing daughter’s best effort.
This is a story about the failure to deal with a deep, shattered relationship. The works of art are glimpsed at, but barely revealed. The nuances of McKellen’s tone, delivery and facial expressions are the true art of this story. The cluttered, darkly lit, many-roomed terraced mansion is a metaphor for Sklar’s mind. This could be a museum, says his daughter Sallie, towards the end of the film. Just so. The first floor could be a gift shop, says Barnaby. Exactly. Great script. Beautifully delivered.
