Movie Breakdown: The Good Liar

Pre-Screening Ramble:

I love a good con-centric movie, I love both Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren, and I … well, love isn’t the word I’d use to describe how I feel about Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Beauty And The Beast, The Greatest Showman), but I at least like him.  This could be a winner.

Post-Screening Ramble:

Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren are just as wonderful in The Good Liar as I figured they would be.  The former is Roy, a conman who has been scamming people for nearly his entire life, and the latter is Betty, a widowed and retired Oxford professor who unwittingly becomes Roy’s new target.  In general, The Good Liar doesn’t stray too far from its two leads, so it’s their back and forth, the development of their relationship and Roy’s sharp but gentle manipulation of Mirren’s overly endearing Betty that will keep you occupied.  What you also get just enough of though is Roy’s shady dealings when he’s not with Betty, and this allows McKellen to play a doting love interest and a menacing criminal, and he nails both sides.  Even at 80, he’s still got a wide range, which is pretty amazing.

Unfortunately, director Bill Condon doesn’t really do a whole lot with these performances.  They’re there and they’re great, but this is a slow-paced film with a twist that – at least the gist of it – becomes more and more obvious as things meander along.  I was never bored, but there definitely came a point where I was ready for everything to just go ahead and click into place.

Not sure it’s necessary to see this one in a theater (if you do, matinee it), but it’s definitely worth checking out when it’s on VOD.

One Last Thought:

This movie takes place before smart devices but the plot requires a tablet-like gadget, so the characters use what appear to be giant calculators that have some sort of magical wi-fi that they’re connected to at all times.  It’s very weird.  Also, I want one.