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No actor in a movie this month is enjoying themselves more than Ian McKellen as an egomaniac painter in Steven Soderbergh’s slender pleasure “The Christophers.” Once, his Julian Sklar was the bisexual provocateur of the London art scene commanding millions for a single piece. Now he’s better known as the villain of “Art Fight,” a reality competition show where he took cruel pleasure destroying amateurs’ hopes.

Equally dismissive of his own output, Julian hasn’t wielded a paintbrush in decades. And so his adult children Barnaby and Sallie (James Corden and Jessica Gunning of “Baby Reindeer”) — two money-grubbing, untalented brats — hire a broke art restorer, Lori (Michaela Coel), to finish a stack of half-sketched portraits Julian made of his male ex-lover that were left abandoned in the attic. Don’t think of it as forgery, Barnaby assures Lori, “more like forging through them until they are completed.”

That’s a great line, and “The Christophers” has a dozen more almost as good. Nearly all get delivered by McKellen’s Julian, waving a champagne coupe while monologuing about humidifiers, cancel culture and a doctor who smells like radishes. He seems to imagine acolytes — or at least, television audiences — eagerly soaking up his bon mots. Meanwhile, Lori, a young Black woman hired under false pretenses as an assistant, stares mutely. If their first meeting as boss and employee were freeze-framed into a painting, it would be called “A Study in Contrasts.”

The script is by Ed Solomon, who also collaborated with Soderbergh on the more action-packed 2021 gangster movie “No Sudden Move.” This plot doodles along, rarely going where we expect. Mostly, Julian and Lori take turns thwarting his obnoxious kids and threatening to quit. I chuckled every time Corden and Gunning showed up for more abuse, including from Soderbergh, who shoots them like a wall of stupidity, blocking doorways as they stand side-by-side like Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

The inequalities of the art world are gestured to as fact. Lori, who might be every bit as technically gifted as Julian, ekes out a living serving egg rolls in a food truck while sharing a walk-up loft with three other struggling painters. Julian lords over not one but two swanky adjoining townhouses stuffed with antiques. Once, to flip off the establishment, he sold a work worth 2 million British pounds for the price of a used car. His version of disdain is her idea of a fortune.

One stick figure by Julian would be worth more than anything Lori’s ever done, which makes it extra maddening that he chooses instead to earn a little extra pocket money recording video messages for fans who only care about him as that mean guy on TV. In the glow of a ring light, he tosses off glib advice that might itself be worthless. Quit art school, he tells one, and “happy birthday, blah, blah, blah.” (Even imagining a popular TV show about art is, in itself, culturally aspirational for those of us who enjoy reruns of Bob Ross.)

Why is there such disparity between the value of Julian and Lori’s work? The reasons are so obvious that, to the film, they’re barely worth mentioning: age, gender, era, fame and skill. Julian would dismiss the first two, claiming that wokeness gives an old, white male like him the handicap. But it’s frustrating that the film doesn’t dig very deep into the rest, either. I especially wanted a scene where Julian must reckon with a no-name interloper’s ability to copy his genius, but comparing whether Lori is Julian’s equal would call the film’s bluff and force it to actually show us their art. The handheld camera prefers to lurk on the wooden side of the easel.

Really, I’m not sure Soderbergh even has an opinion on their clash. He just wants to be an eavesdropper in the room, standing back against the dusty brick-a-brack. Of course, if you squint, you can see what interests Soderbergh in this set-up. Like Julian, he’s been threatening to retire for years. He knows how irritated people are when an artist claims they don’t want to bother anymore. And like the neglected paintings in the attic — the Christophers of the title — every filmmaker has their own unfinished projects taking up mental space overhead, treasured ideas that will never emerge to their satisfaction.

Still, I suspect that even if Soderbergh personally identifies with the premise (even though he continues to release more movies in one year than his peers do in five), he still finds Julian’s paralysis a bit pathetic. Julian just needs paint, a brush and the will to create. Filmmakers, now those poor bastards need rich patrons.

Even so, Soderbergh likes to make movies as resourcefully as he can, doing his own editing and cinematography and, above all, prioritizing the act of invention. He can’t be copied because his own work is so eclectic. Have you ever heard of any director being called the next Soderbergh? You sense that, to him, forgery is as creatively dull as a factory-issued franchise sequel. (Except, of course, his “Magic Mike” and “Ocean’s” series, which are, at their best, closer to wacky Warhols.)

Tasked to play the foil to McKellen’s clown, Coel comes off stiff. She has the spine to hold her own against him, but it’s hard to play withholding, particularly when the film needs her character to be both the voice of reason and a politically correct scold. Only her carved cheekbones give off an impression of Lori’s hungry ambition. Still, when she does deign to speak, there’s a dynamite scene where she dresses down Julian critically and psychologically. Whether or not she’s the second coming of him as an artist, she’s more insightful than he ever was insulting watercolors of kittens on TV.

Really, we’re just watching McKellen give a bravura, scene-gobbling performance that doesn’t hold back one iota. My favorite detail he pulls off comes when he greets Lori at the front door undressed and, when she insists he wear clothes, ties on a trench coat that somehow makes him look even more pervy and naked in how McKellen wears it, leaving one bare shoulder roguishly exposed.

The film has plenty of funny little asides like that which make it worth your while. Angelenos will chuckle at a scene in which two characters verbally commit to a meet-up both know won’t happen — or, as we say here, let’s do lunch. Out of magnanimity, I’ll liken this trifle to a Rothko. The more I think about “The Christophers,” the more I imagine it has interesting layers. But I won’t fault anyone who just sees a simple square.

Rams star receiver Puka Nacua, who was involved in a string of off-the-field situations the last few months, including an alleged biting incident that led to a civil lawsuit, entered a rehabilitation care facility in March, his attorney confirmed Wednesday.

Last week, a woman filed a civil lawsuit against Nacua, alleging that on New Year’s Eve he made an antisemitic statement during a group dinner and later bit her shoulder. Attorney Levi McCathern told The Times before the lawsuit was filed that Nacua denied the allegations and that Nacua would “pursue all available legal remedies in response to these false and damaging statements.”

The California Post reported Wednesday that Nacua had checked into a Malibu rehab facility. A Rams official declined to comment.

In a statement to The Times on Wednesday, McCathern said Nacua “voluntarily entered a private facility to focus on his health, personal growth, and overall development — and I’m really proud of him for doing that ahead of his upcoming season.

“He is committed to using this time constructively so that he can return in the best possible position — both personally and professionally — to continue contributing to his team and the game he loves.”

The Rams are scheduled to begin offseason workouts under coach Sean McVay on April 20. In the statement, McCathern said that Nacua would complete the program in time to participate in Rams organized team activities. That part of the offseason program begins several weeks into the offseason.

“Puka is deeply grateful for the support he has received from his family, friends, Coach McVay, and his teammates,” McCathern said. “It is unfortunate that a trivial lawsuit has drawn attention to him during a time when he is committed to becoming a better person. I am excited to see what the future holds for this exceptionally talented young man.”

The lawsuit was the latest situation involving Nacua that cast a spotlight on the fourth-year pro.

During a livestream last December, Nacua criticized NFL officials and made a gesture regarded as antisemitic. Nacua apologized, and the Rams and the NFL issued statements condemning antisemitism and discrimination. But after the Rams’ loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Nacua criticized officials in a social media post from the locker room. The NFL fined him $25,000.

Nacua, 24, led the NFL with 129 receptions last season, was voted All-Pro and was a finalist for NFL offensive player of the year. He is entering the final year of his rookie contract, and he is eligible for an extension that could equal or surpass the deal Seattle Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba recently signed that includes $120 million in guarantees.

On Monday, at the NFL owners meetings, McVay repeatedly said, “I trust this kid’s heart,” and later said “he understands what the responsibility is, not exclusive to just the production on the field.”

General manager Les Snead described Nacua as “ young man, becoming,” who is “continuing to evolve” as a person and player. Snead and Tony Pastoors, the Rams’ chief operating officer both said on-the-field performance is not the only factor that is taken into account when making decisions regarding contract extensions.

“It isn’t just, ‘OK, turn it on on Sundays and make decisions from there,’” Pastoors said. “We have to take in every data point we can.”

MILAN — Milan’s two first-division soccer teams share a stadium, the majestic San Siro, and the top two spots in the Serie A standings. They each have American owners and fanatically loyal supporters. And both are among the most iconic and successful teams in history.

But that’s where the similarities wane. Because while Inter Milan believes it has a story to tell, AC Milan has locked the doors, drawn the drapes and taken the phone off the hook.

I know this because ahead of last month’s Milan-Cortina Winter Games I reached out to both clubs and asked if they might have some time to visit. AC Milan proved too busy to chat, but Inter Milan invited me to its training center, hidden among farm fields and quiet pastures 45 minutes from the city. Those humble surroundings proved to be at odds with the lofty global reach the team is trying to build.

“I would say it’s leveraging more around Italian history and then the history of the club,” Giorgio Ricci, Inter Milan’s chief revenue officer, said of the image the club is trying to market. “A city like Milano is now a real ambassador of that Italian culture, from lifestyle to design to food and whatever. But we [also] have the authentic history around the foundation of this club. It’s a story not of globalization but of internationalization.

“So there is always this dualism between being very strong[ly] rooted in the city of Milan, in the real core, and having this international attitude. It’s quite a unique and winning combination.”

The Inter in Inter Milan, after all, is short for Internazionale, Italian for international.

“It shall be called Internazionale, because we are brothers of the world,” said Giorgio Muggiani when he helped start the team in 1908. He later lent his talents as an artist and illustrator to the fascist movement of Benito Mussolini.

Inter Milan is in the fifth year of its latest and boldest transition, one that is taking it from being just a soccer club into being a lifestyle and fashion-focused brand, a transition that, as Ricci said, will trade on its history as an international club and its location in one of the fashion capitals of the world.

It’s a model that was pioneered by French club Paris Saint-Germain, which nine years ago began partnering with Dior, Jordan Brand, Levi Strauss and others. Inter has teamed with Italian menswear brand Canali, created a new digital ecosystem that has won it a significant increase in video views and user engagement and has launched non-sporting merchandise such as streetwear accessories to accompany the rebrand.

“We are a football club,” Ricci said. “But in order to grow, we need to become a global football brand.”

And it has begun to do that. Deloitte, the British professional services company which does an annual ranking of soccer club revenues, says Inter brought in more than $620 million in 2024-25, the most recent season for which figures are available. That’s 11th best in the world and a jump of about 70% and eight places from where the club was a decade ago, when it was just the fourth-most-profitable club in Italy.

Inter Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu celebrates after scoring on a penalty shot against Genoa on Feb. 28.

(Marco Luzzani / Getty Images)

In an effort to tell that story and continue that growth, Inter collaborated with Spike Lee on a short film titled “My Name Is My Story,” in which Lee narrated the club’s history and identity, introducing it to a U.S. audience during last summer’s Club World Cup.

Inter isn’t going it alone though. All of Italian football is in the midst of a long-needed overhaul.

A generation ago, Serie A was the best soccer league in the world. It had players like Roberto Baggio, Jurgen Klinsmann, Alessandro Del Piero, Ronaldo, George Weah and Diego Maradona and its wealthy, deep-pocketed owners sent Italian teams to nine Champions League finals between 1989-99.

Since then the league has struggled to market its product globally, lost many of its top players to better pay in other European leagues, found potential revenue streams closed off by aging, crumbling infrastructure, and saw its reputation and credibility damaged by the 2006 Calciopoli scandal, which centered on the manipulation of referee appointments to favor certain clubs.

An influx of U.S.-based owners is helping turn that around. Eight of Serie A’s 20 teams have American owners and Ricci says they have not only brought much-needed investment to the league but they’ve brought ideas on how to market Italian soccer.

“Some are only bringing money, yeah. Others are bringing also a vision and an ambition,” Ricci said. “Our ownership is exactly bringing that. Bringing the North American culture of not seeing only constraints and barriers in the development of a project [but] having the ambition, far-sighted[ness] and working on building a dream.

“That is exactly what Serie A needs: a bit of a dream and a bit of a vision to dare a bit more and not be too conservative. We need a few leading and having vision and bringing that dream.”

A big part of that dream and vision in Milan is a new stadium, one that will replace the century-old San Siro with a 71,500-seat arena at the center of a $1.4-billion urban-regeneration plan funded primarily by RedBird Capital, AC Milan’s New York-based owner, and Oaktree Capital Management, the Los Angeles-based company that owns Inter Milan.

For Inter Milan that investment, the club hopes, will transform the game-day experience not just for well-heeled corporate types but for the team’s diehard fans. I’m still waiting to hear what AC Milan’s plans are.

“I’m not only talking about corporate clients and things like that,” Ricci said. “That, of course, will benefit from a new state-of-the-art venue with the facilities, restaurants, whatever. But also for general [admission]. As soon as they step into a new venue with better seats, in terms of sound, in terms of video, audio and all the entertainment, we are going to increase the perception of each kind of spectator you have in the venue.”

Is it a gamble? Sure, but then very few things in sports are a sure bet. Yet for Inter Milan, at least, that vision and the story behind it are worth telling.

⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.