Review: The Christophers

Image courtesy of Neon.

Can one be a great artist if one's work isn't recognize - or, in the case of Steven Soderbergh's new film, "The Christophers," can one be considered great if others believe that a great work of art they produced was created by someone else?

That's one of the questions driving the film, which is for much of its running time a two-hander starring Ian McKellen in a great performance as Julian Sklar, a washed up artist who has become cranky and sour, and Michaela Coel as Lori Butler, a young painter with a talent for forging others' work who is hired by Sklar's greedy children to complete a series of unfinished Sklar paintings, so that when he dies they can sell them for a large profit. 

Lori, who has a bit of history with Sklar that is only later revealed, is tasked with obtaining the job of Sklar's assistant, locating the unfinished works (known as "The Christophers"), and completing them in Sklar's style.

Once a fashionable artist in the 1960s, Sklar has become a parody of himself. The only remaining interest in him from the art world revolves around the incomplete paintings, which he made to pay homage to a former lover around the time he came out as gay. In recent years, he has taken to selling his painting on street corners for much less than they are worth to thumb his nose at the art world, and was once on a TV show that can best be described as an "American Idol" for artists where he treated contestants shabbily.

It doesn't take long before Lori admits to Julian that she has been hired by his children (James Corden and Jessica Gunning) to complete "The Christophers," and despite his continuous assertion that he wants to destroy the paintings, Lori recognizes that he, perhaps, actually wants to revisit them.

This is a smaller film for Soderbergh - some critics have called it minor, though I'm not sure that description fits - and its success is derived from the two lead performances. McKellen, always a treasure, is great here as Sklar, whose obvious talent as an artist is often overshadowed by his ego and ability to always say something that will offend others around him. Coel's character is a bit more of a cypher, but there's a reason why her character would need to play it closer to the vest.

Soderbergh has recently been on a tear, releasing three movies in the past year - including the very good and twisty "Black Bag" and the low-budget ghost story "Presence." "The Christophers" is the middle of these recent three - better than the horror movie but not quite on the level of "Black Bag" - but it's a film that follows two intriguing characters who are played by talented actors and provides an interesting twist on the concept of communal art. It's a film that leaves you with something to chew on.