Peneflix MOVIE REVIEWS BY PENEFLIX
Following 2025’s scintillating spy thriller “Black Bag” Steven Soderbergh’s “The Christophers” blazingly brilliant duet, between artists “Julian Sklar” (Ian McKellen, is born for the role and takes flight in every provocative scene) and “Lori Butler” (superior Michaela Coel, perpetually taunts Julian); nearing death Julian’s children (“Barnaby”, James Corden, and “Sallie”, Jessica Gunning) hire Lori to complete his unfinished canvasses and the scenario morphs into a mysterious, magnificent cat and mouse competition between aptitudes rarely depicted on the screen. 1949’s “Adam’s Rib” starring Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, a lawyerly couple trade barbs in and out of a courtroom drama.
“The Christophers” tantalization lies in the unraveling of the long-term feud between artist and forger; audiences are taken by surprise as the plot thickens and rivalry and redemption unveil dynamically and dramatically the complexities of the art market, complications of a deep-seated love affair, avaricious greed, primarily the acknowledgment that death beckons and portends everlasting uncompleted ventures.
Written by Ed Solomon, it is masterpiece of breathtaking, quick-witted, cerebral dialogue commanded by McKellan’s performance; more than prodigiously remarkable he grasps and illustrates the multifaceted Julian, a man who shuns his extraordinary gift, suffering from a fractured heart, sickened by his stupid, nefarious children but still embraces with laughter and glee the repartee between the ingenuity, wit and cleverness of the understated Lori.
Luxuriate in a film that transcends the ordinary, savoring a gem of the extraordinaire.
FIVE STARS!!!!!
Peneflix
