In a terrific new film The Christopher's, an art restorer with a little background in forgery

takes a job as an assistant to a once famous artist who's faded from public life.

And her motives are complicated.

It might seem like a quiet story, but the movie packs a serious punch of top-notch talent.

The artist is played by Ian McKellen, the assistant by Michaela Cole,

and the film is directed by Steven Soderberg.

I'm Glenn Weldon.

And I'm Linda Holmes, and today we're talking about the Christophers on Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR.

Joining us today is our co-host, Aisha Harris.

Hello, Aisha.

Hello, Linda.

So The Christophers begins with Michaela Cole as Lori, an art restorer who gets a call

from a brother and sister played by James Corden and Jessica Gunning.

They are the Good fornothing children of the once

very famous artist Julian Sclar, played by Ian McKellen. They have no real relationship to speak of

with their father, and they're concerned they'll get nothing when he dies. So they have a

proposition for Lori. She will get a job as Julian's assistant, and she'll sneak up to his attic and complete

several unfinished canvases from a series known as the Christophers. Then when Julian dies, these

paintings will be discovered, and they will reap the rewards. Laurie decides to take the job,

but when she meets the prickly Julian, he's not quite what she expects, and the story of the Christopher's gets tricky, too. The movie is mostly a two-hander between Cole and McKellen, and they are pretty great together. The film is in theaters now. Glenn, I'm going to start with you. Where did you come down on the Christophers?

Came down pro, sadly pro. I haven't seen

any reviews, but I know this thing is going to get called by some folks stagey. And you can

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