In the movies, critics are the people we love to hate. Critic characters get even less overall sympathy than Marvel Cinematic Universe villain Thanos after “The Snap.” And who better to play an imperious and widely feared critic than the king of queer elders, Ian McKellen? In the upcoming period thriller “The Critic,” based on Anthony Quinn’s novel “Curtain Call,” the two-time Oscar nominee will play a mean drama critic in 1930s London, and the wonderful Gemma Arterton (“Their Finest”) will play an actress on a mission to win him over. Enter — stage left — some journalistic intrigue, blackmail, backstabbing and an actual murder, and now there’s a story. Anand Tucker (“Hilary and Jackie”) directs this one from a script by Patrick Marber (“Notes on a Scandal”), and production is already underway. And for the record, if McKellen’s critic is the murderer, we want him to get away with everything.
