The Good Liar
Ten Second Review: A very strange combination of exactly what you expect and not quite at the same time. Excellent acting and nice pace help this film teeter toward enjoyable rather than just interesting.
In one of the least controversial statements ever made, I must admit I’m rather fond of Dame Helen Mirren and Sir Ian McKellen. The question is never whether the acting will be Stella but simply who will they be inhabiting this time, and what a treat they had for us this time.
Roy (Sir Ian) is in the process of wooing his new “companion” (her words, not mine), Betty (Dame Helen). What she doesn’t know is that Roy is not actually taken with her quiet life, in a quiet suburb in her quiet and quaint bungalow. Roy is an old hand and swindling people out of their money and Betty is just his latest target.
This is rather a hard film to talk about without making it rather not worth watching. So, in the interest of fairness, if I appear to be circling something without truly addressing it, do understand that I’m simply avoiding spoiling it. I do think that barely several scenes in you will understand where the film is going but I doubt you’ll guess all it’s finer details before the end. Some, certainly, but not all.
I would argue that this is a double edged sword. Sometimes things feeling a little sudden or unguessable is actually to the fault of the film. A perfect example of this comes in (spoilers warning) Now You See Me. When it is revealed that Mark Ruffalo, the magic hating police officer, has secretly been the head horseman of this magic circle the whole time. Some audiences will go “ahhhhh, what a twist!” but many will feel that the reveal is jarring but also underserved. You couldn’t have known and thus it wasn’t a reveal, it was a lazy insert to add drama.
It must be said that the twists and turns of this film do arrive at a place that most audiences will be glad of but that doesn’t necessarily excuse the thin air they develop in. There are loose ends I’d have liked tied but on the whole the film doesn’t make the mistake of over complication destroying its central narrative in its wake.
A fairly enjoyable tale, that feels as though it genuinely unfolds as you watch, the film is helped by great acting. Both Mirren and McKellen are brilliant and their interaction is a level chemistry that only serves to emphasise their individual talents. Russel Tovey, playing Mirren’s grandson, is also great (though he rarely isn’t) and reminds us that we’d like to see him in film and in TV a little more.
The Good Liar is, for the most part, an enjoyable film. It moves along at a good pace and some of its faults are helped by its script and acting. Certainly a good weekend watch but I’m less certain seeing this at the cinema is wholly necessary. Might be worth waiting till you can stream it in 6 months.
