The Christophers

What is the value of art? Does it reside in personal expression? Cultural longevity? Financial worth? These questions fuel Steven Soderbergh?s gloriously entertaining comedy, ?The Christophers?, written by Ed Solomon, starring Ian McKellen, Michaela Coel, Jessica Gunning, and James Corden. Julian Sklar (McKellen) was once a star of London?s 1960?s and 70?s pop art explosion, but he hasn?t painted in decades and has been broke for years. His two estranged children, desperate for an inheritance, hire Lori, an art restorer and former forger (Coel), to pose as a prospective assistant in order to access unfinished canvases Julian has buried deep in storage. A mainstay of the London art scene since his starry breakout in the creative explosion of the 1960's, Julian Sklar (Ian McKellen) has drifted into a cluttered, self-imposed seclusion. His two estranged children enlist Lori (Michaela Coel), a young painter and sometime-forger, to pose as a prospective assistant and gain access to a fabled series of unfinished canvases Julian has buried deep in his home studio, in a deceptive bid to secure an inheritance for themselves.