THE STORY – Estranged children of a well-known artist employ a forger to finish his incomplete paintings to sell them.
THE CAST – Ian McKellen, Michaela Coel, James Corden, & Jessica Gunning
THE TEAM – Steven Soderbergh (Director) & Ed Solomon (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 100 Minutes
Since his 1989 feature directorial debut “Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” Steven Soderbergh has given audiences a range of experimental films to enjoy, often in a single year (most recently, “Black Bag” and “Presence”). Usually, Soderbergh’s high-level productivity produces stellar achievements. His artistic flexibility is admirable, reaching everything from paranoia thrillers (“Contagion”) and elegant heist jobs (the “Oceans” trilogy) to impactful dramas (“Erin Brockovich”). Every once in a while, however, an underwhelming endeavour rolls along. This year, it’s “The Christophers,” a sporadically entertaining chamber piece starring Michaela Coel and Ian McKellen. While their dialogue conveys a thoughtful exploration of artistic mentorship and hidden motives, the film struggles to find a dynamic visual language, ultimately painting without precision.
Renowned painter Julian Sklar (Ian McKellen) has reached the stagnant stage of his creative life. Once a critic and mentor to budding artists, Julian believes that his art and talent have now departed. These days, he records personalized birthday messages as a source of additional income, while surrounded by long-abandoned unfinished works. Among the unfinished, eight canvases collectively titled The Christophers become of particular interest to Julian’s estranged children and heirs (Jessica Gunning and James Corden). Wanting to secure an inheritance after their father’s imminent death, the siblings approach artist and former school classmate Lori (Michaela Coel), who has perfected the art of imitation. Lori is met with an enticing proposition: complete The Christophers and receive a third of the profit from the eventual sale of all eight paintings. She accepts the plan and positions herself as an assistant-for-hire to gain Julian’s trust, but her allegiance shifts once she gets to know him.
The chamber piece is not new ground for Soderbergh, who excelled at this structure with “Sex, Lies, & Videotape,” utilizing innovative camera movements and an effective use of the camcorder. “The Christophers” has the ingredients of a Soderbergh feature: an eclectic character-driven story, themes of betrayal and commerce, to name a few. But it sorely lacks the filmmaker’s carefully constructed presentation and stylish playfulness. Soderbergh approaches Solomon’s witty script with an overly naturalistic and loose sensibility, which strips the dialogue of its cinematic weight and slows the momentum. The film’s first half suffers most, especially given its confined setting at Julian’s handsomely decorated London flat.
The film finds compelling movement in Michaela Coel and Ian McKellen, who relish in the unpredictable journeys of their characters. Crucial to energizing the limited setting, Coel and McKellen deliver insightful and charismatic performances. It’s a delight to watch them share the screen with sharp dialogue, clever banter, and ambiguous personalities. The main draw of “The Christophers” is how Lori and Julian’s dynamic unfolds through a reexamination and revitalization of art and its value. Lori’s knowledge about Julian’s art, along with her critiques of how he imploded his career and lost his edge along the way, gives the audience dynamic material to engage with.
With brilliant work by Coel and McKellen, “The Christophers” works best as a two-hander and feels most alive when focused on the thread of truly engaging with an artist’s history to understand the many layers of their work. Outside their dynamic, the film falls apart and meanders along through uneven pacing. The supporting characters, while driving forces of the narrative on paper, are frustratingly two-dimensional. However, Gunning (fresh from her phenomenal Emmy-winning turn in “Baby Reindeer”) shines in a very limited role. She delivers some of the funniest one-liners, and her character has an amusing recurring gag involving a laughably bad painting.
“The Christophers” may not be Soderbergh operating at his peak, nor does the film build to a satisfying or impactful conclusion. Regardless, Coel and McKellen make this creative endeavour worthwhile. Plus, in the grand scheme of Soderbergh’s career, it’s yet another compelling example of how intently he experiments with various genres and forms of contemporary storytelling. One can’t help but admire his productivity, for better or worse.
