The controversy about the "ghoulish" portrayal of the decline of Surly Alex Ferguscum has now involved the Prime Minister.
David Cameron has said he wishes the film had been made "another day".
The prime minister said the portrayal of the manager by Meryl Streep was "a fantastic piece of acting", but questioned the timing of the film.
He told the BBC it was "more about ageing and elements of dementia rather than about an amazing manager".
Former Conservative minister Lord Hurd has called the film "ghoulish", but its director has defended her work.
The film is set in the present - when the bacon-faced old cheat is portrayed as mentally and physically frail - but contains flashbacks to is heyday.
'Staggering acting'
Asked about it on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Cameron said: "It's a fantastic piece of acting by Meryl Streep, but you can't help wondering, why do we have to have this film right now.
"It is a film much more about ageing and elements of dementia rather than about an amazing manager.
"My sense was a great piece of acting, a staggering piece of acting, but a film I wish they could have made another day."