THE CHRISTOPHERS: Another One That Sticks

THE CHRISTOPHERS (Blu-ray)

2025 / 100 min

NEON

Review by Princess Pepper😺

Hey, didn’t Steven Soderbergh retire at one time? 

I sure as hell didn’t need any coaxing when the opportunity came to hang up my spurs. Then again, I suppose it’s a lot easier to walk away from a quarter-century of babysitting educating middle schoolers than decades of directing whatever you want, however you want. For me, Soderbergh has always been hit-or-miss, but I admire his willingness to throw damn near anything at the wall to see what sticks. When it does stick, the results are memorable.

If he had stayed retired, we wouldn’t have gotten the likes of Logan Lucky and Black Bag, which would’ve been a shame because they’re among my favorites of his films. So I’m glad he’s back, and damn, he’s been prolific, cranking out one-to-two movies a year since 2017. As usual, not all of ‘em stick, but The Christophers is one that does.

Lori Butler (Michaela Coel) is a struggling artist who restores old paintings on the side. She’s approached by Sallie and Barnaby Sklar (Jessica Gunning & James Corden), two siblings whose ailing father, Julian (Ian McKellen), is an artist whose series of paintings, collectively called The Christophers, made him world famous. They want Lori to pose as Julian’s new assistant, find a batch of unfinished Christophers in his attic, and finish the paintings herself. The idea is that when Julian dies, Sallie and Barnaby will make millions from these newly “discovered” pieces.

"What I'm ultimately hoping to paint is this door."

Because of a past encounter with Julian that affected her own career for the worst, Lori agrees to do it. But while Julian may be old, weak and a shadow of his former artistic self, he’s still sharp as a tack and generally contemptuous of other artists (as well as his own kids). Though he discovers Lori’s ruse, they develop an interesting relationship that’s both professional and personal, friendly and adversarial. A lot of this is depicted through mostly one-sided conversations initiated by Julian, whose lengthy, cynical monologues are often very amusing - if somewhat cryptic - with Lori as a not-so-casual observer.

Oh, there’s still the plot to deal with, which takes a few unexpected turns, but the real crux of the film is the interaction between these two. Lori and Julian are very engaging, and not just through dialogue. In fact, the former probably has fewer lines in the entire film than Julian has in just one of his diatribes, yet Soderbergh, screenwriter Ed Solomon and especially Coel keep us invested in her. Still, the movie belongs to McKellen. Julian doesn’t initially come across as all that complex (though he’s quite funny). But beneath his blunt, cantankerous exterior is vulnerability and remorse, attributes that slowly reveal themselves as the narrative unfolds…and McKellen plays him perfectly.

One minor quip is that it doesn’t look like much effort was put into the film’s antagonists. Sallie and Barnaby are obnoxious caricatures, played with sitcom-level buffoonery by Gunning & Corden. They’re an annoying, lazily-conceived distraction in an otherwise rewarding and enjoyable film. It's yet another reason why it's a good thing Soderbergh chose not to retire.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTE - Conversation with Screenwriter Ed Solomon and Charlie Kaufman.

TRAILER