At what age is the “death stage?” You know, that age for actors in which if you put them in a drama, we can expect them to have died before the picture ends. Ian McKellen is there now. It is safe to say that Ian McKellen will probably die several times more before his career ends.
Is this a good fate? I’m not sure. I guess as long as you love the job, it is. But it’s almost like having a child on film. The possibilities are no longer endless; in fact, we know how most of these films are going to end. One good thing is the likelihood of Ian McKellen getting shot, stabbed, punched, kicked, poisoned, or beheaded on film are practically nil. I mean … just wait. Be patient here, and nature will find a way. Again, however, we are limiting the roles that Sir Ian may assume. So, thank goodness there a still few good ones left.
Julian Sklar (McKellen) is a painter at death’s door. His life has been … colorful. He is among the few artists the world has produced who has lived to see his own legend and financial success. And, yet, he has pissed away most everything he might hold dear. He lives alone in a double townhouse filled to the fourth story with forgotten art and disorganized possessions. He stopped making art years ago; now he pays the bills making tacky cameos for random wannabes.
This movie is not actually about the legendary curmudgeon Julian Sklar; it’s about art restorer and failed artist Lori Butler (Michaela Coel – who is an artwork unto herself; have you seen those cheekbones?) Lori holds a long grudge against Julian and thus proves morally malleable when Julian’s greedy children (James Corden and Jessica Gunning) make her a proposal: get into Julian’s employ, finish a series of unfinished paintings, The Christophers, and smuggle them out for private sale. This would be Christopher set number 3, based on Julian’s ex-lover, a set of 9 paintings likely to sell for around $10M or so. Might be £10, cuz the film is set in London, but does it matter?
The easy part was getting the job, believe it or not. [I do not believe it.] The harder part is tracking The Christophers while conning the old man. Julian Sklar is old, physically challenged, is nearing death, and has alienated most of the people who would have cared for him, BUT he’s not stupid. And he’s vain, so you better believe he will have researched every bad thing Lori 
Butler might have said about him on the internet. The key to a job like this is anonymity, which will prove most difficult.
What makes The Christophers work is the relationship between Lori and Julian. Do we get to see him open his eyes to vibrant life in front of him and shed his narcissistic, curmudgeonly ways? No, not really. But she’s an artist, and a scholar in the field, and with that, he can meet her on his terms. She’s also extremely intuitive. Julian has threatened destroying The Christophers set for years (one of the reason the kids want to wrest them from him), but his threats are idle; he can’t do it without destroying his art and the lover he once cherished.
For a film about death and betrayal and threats of destruction, The Christophers is strangely uplifting and delightful. It’s no surprise that this is a Steven Soderbergh film; he seems to make more out of less than 90% of his peers. I can’t say this film will win any awards or flatten and mountains, but it can make you smile for a few hours … and recommend it to a friend.
There once was an artist named Sklar
A most curmudgeonly hermit all-star
He invited a con
An unwitting pawn
And instead, got a friendship bizarre
Rated R, 100 Minutes
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Ed Solomon
Genre: Arty art art
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Unsung artists
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Grifters
