Michaela Coel and Ian McKellen in 'The Christophers.' Courtesy of TIFF Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Shake the family trees of many celebrated artists nearing the end of their lives and you're likely to find at least one heir plotting how to keep the cash cow going postmortem, in the meantime guiding arthritic hands to sign every last doodle that might be worth something. Not to mention wincing in pain any time another museum donation gets shipped off. In The Christophers, Steven Soderbergh's crafty comedy about legacy, forgery, unbridled greed and resentments, the grasping adult offspring of a once celebrated painter are the embodiment of avaricious scheming. They won't miss the old man, but they'll miss the sums his work can fetch. Related Stories Movies TIFF Hidden Gem: World's First Deaf Thriller 'Retreat' Is Just the Beginning for Sign Language Cinema Movies TIFF Flashback: Newbie Keanu Reeves Was 'The Prince' of Toronto Written by Ed Solomon, who collaborated with Soderbergh on the twisty neo-noir No Sudden Move as well as the TV series Mosaic and Full Circle, the film is a talky chamber piece that's virtually a two-hander and could just as easily have been a play. But the verbal sparring between Michaela Coel and Ian McKellen as characterological opposites who find tricky common ground, would make for smart entertainment in any medium. The Christophers The Bottom Line An impeccable paint job. Venue: Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentations)Cast: Michaela Coel, Ian McKellen, Jessica Gunning, James CordenDirector: Steven SoderberghScreenwriter: Ed Solomon 1 hour 39 minutes McKellen plays Julian Sklar, first seen looking the epitome of the gone-to-seed painter in a rumpled plaid chore coat, scarf and beret in his rambling double-front townhouse on a posh London square. Inside, the place is as decrepit as Julian, every corner cluttered with canvases, papers and enough dusty ephemera to warm the heart of any hoarder. (Kudos to production designer Antonia Lowe.) His cachet as an esteemed art world figure waned decades ago. But his celebrity stock rose after his productivity had petered out when he became a vituperative judge on a TV reality contest show called Art Fight, pouring scorn on the awful kitten paintings of children and housewives. The notoriety he gained from being vicious on national television has allowed him to earn a meager income recording personalized messages on a Cameo-type platform. Which means he now has a laptop and an LED donut lamp in place of an easel. He also drew TV coverage for a "Sidewalk Salon," when he sold his paintings at bargain prices as a big FU to the commercialized art world. Among Julian's most highly prized and lucrative works were two series called "The Christophers," named for a significant figure in his life, whom he recalls with sadness and regret, unlike the scavenger children he scathingly refers to as "buzzard Barnaby" (James Corden) and "the hyena Sally" (Jessica Gunning). Whispers have long circulated among art collectors that a third series of Christophers exists unfinished, which could potentially go for millions if they were ever completed and put on the market. It's that series that Barnaby and Sally plan to get their money-grubbing paws on, having already burned through the considerable sum they made off other paintings by their father. They contact Lori Butler (Coel), who was at Saint Martins College with Sally, though Julian later points out that his pushy no-talent daughter enrolled strictly via the nepotism program. (A painting by Sally dragged out to prove her father's point is the movie's most brilliant sight gag.) Since Lori's art restoration business dried up, she's been running a food truck. But Sally remembers her uncanny skill at copying other artists' work, down to the finest details. Positing that restoration and forgery are not so very different, Sally and Barnaby convince Lori to get herself hired as their father's assistant, then gain his trust and full access to his house, the aim being to remove the eight unfinished canvasses from storage, complete them and then return them to storage to be claimed after their father's death. The siblings offer her a third of the sale proceeds. They also remind Lori of her acrimony toward Julian: "We know why you hate him. Think of this as a way to get revenge." So far so intriguing. While the pacing slackens here and there, Soderbergh (who also shot and edited the film under his usual pseudonyms) is in loose, playful mode, trading the exacting control of Presence and the seductive sheen of Black Bag for a more unmanicured look, with lots of nimble handheld camera and sharp framing to goose up the character interactions. Seriously, who else drops three distinctive features in the same year? (Presence tech