The Critic (15)

A delicious performance as a catty gay theatre critic in 1930s London elevates this Patrick Marber-scripted drama.

Jimmy Erskine (Ian McKellen) is the most feared and famous theatre critic, saving his most savage takedowns for Nina Land (Gemma Arterton), an already unsure leading lady.

As a gay man forever at the mercy of laws that prohibit his very existence, Jimmy is living life on the edge, indulging in sex with strangers while showboating his flamboyance in writing. But when his newspaper’s proprietor dies and his son (Mark Strong) takes over, Jimmy is told to be careful, to avoid falling foul of his new boss by cutting down on the cattiness, and when his job security becomes precarious, he’s forced to turn to Nina for help.

It’s a darkly comic premise, making use of the old cinematic conceit of the critic as some kind of egotist puppet master, with little regard for mere mortal laws and moralities. Despite all this nastiness, the film has a teatime glow of cosy-crime sentimentality which reduces the effect;  McKellen’s glorious star quality and dash make him the only possible casting.