Straight after waving goodbye, he heads for one of London’s better known strip clubs to go to work on two gullible businessmen whom he and his fellow conman, Vincent (Jim Carter), have in their sights. This mystery thriller is outrageous and irresistible, an old-fashioned drama with dashes of Patricia Highsmith, Patrick Hamilton, John le Carré and maybe Elizabeth Jane Howard’s memoir Slipstream. LGBTQ Inclusion in Studio Films Increased in 2019, but Non-White and Transgender Characters Dropped, New on Amazon Prime Video India This June 2020, Most Anticipated DVD/Blu-Ray Release of February 2020, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. While Betty’s house in the suburbs has all the character of a Holiday Inn, it’s hard to see it as a guide to her own character. It features delicious performances by Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen – I don’t think McKellen has had such a juicy role since his turn in the 1998 drama Apt Pupil – and the film has such storytelling gusto that you’ll overlook bits of implausible silliness involving smartphone-type “handsets” with which large financial sums can supposedly be transferred from one bank account to another. Looking for something to watch? In one scene, he’s all smiles, twinkles and old-fashioned courtliness. So he’s the unimaginative one. My biggest beef with this movie is that the timeline doesn't work. All rights reserved. The main characters are too young for the events that happen in the flashbacks. And that’s because Roy and Betty are accompanied by her grandson, Stephen (an impressive Russell Tovey), who has the instincts of a guard dog and tenacity of a terrier when it comes to nosing out a secret. University academics of Betty’s generation, while never well paid, often benefited from lump sums and final salary pensions, and she and her husband owned a house. The Good Liar isn't a true story, rather, it's adapted from a novel. However kept me interested except at the very end which was dragged out about 10 minutes too long. World-renowned civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson works to free a wrongly condemned death row prisoner. An act of civil disobedience turns into a standoff with police when homeless people in Cincinnati take over the public library to seek shelter from the bitter cold. Although she fortifies herself with a vodka martini at their first meeting, Betty is far from a merry widow. 22 of 33 people found this review helpful. But director Bill Condon and screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher have compressed the timelines, streamlined the cast, adjusted the pacing and re-arranged the twists that shape Searle’s serpentine structure. They haven’t arrived at a perfect solution, but it does keep you interested. Mirren would always have trouble if called upon to camouflage her intelligence and in this case, she doesn’t really have to try. There’s not enough tension – or intimacy – in their relationship. It’s a great duel between McKellen and Mirren. Naturally, he’s protesting too much. Directed by Bill Condon. Mirren plays a retired, well-off widow called Betty McLeish looking for decorous romantic companionship from a silver-years dating website. In 1950s New York, a lonely private detective afflicted with Tourette's Syndrome ventures to solve the murder of his mentor and only friend. Title: Consummate con man Roy Courtnay has set his sights on his latest mark: the recently widowed Betty McLeish, worth millions. But this time, what should have been a simple swindle escalates into a cat-and-mouse game with the ultimate stakes. After all, they’re experienced time travellers. A group of women take on Fox News head Roger Ailes and the toxic atmosphere he presided over at the network. Steven is right to worry – because Roy is a dead-eyed predatory conman, working with phoney accountant Vincent (a nice performance from Jim Carter) to bilk greedy businessmen out of their cash and trick widows out of their savings. Later, when they meet over dinner, McKellen’s Roy Courtenay is the first to come clean, explaining to Mirren’s Betty McLeish he can’t go on deceiving her because he abhors dishonesty. Based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Lloyd Vogel. While Betty’s house in the suburbs has all the character of a Holiday Inn, it’s hard to see it as a guide to her own character. The Good Liar pairs Oscar winner Helen Mirren and two-time Oscar nominee Ian McKellen in a plot twisting thriller - their performances sublime, subtle and mesmerising. Sky Cinema: What’s New in September 2020? A rookie New Orleans police officer is forced to balance her identity as a black woman after she witnesses two corrupt cops committing murder. Choose an adventure below and discover your next favorite movie or TV show. © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. It’s an enthralling exercise but a peculiarly cerebral one – a psychological thriller without the thrills. The film is an adaptation of a debut novel by Nicholas Searle, a former British intelligence officer who completed it while studying at a writing school set up by the literary agents Curtis Brown. • The Good Liar is released in the UK on 8 November, in the US on 15 November and in Australia on 5 December. And both starred McKellen. This FAQ is empty. Consummate con man Roy Courtnay has set his sights on his latest mark: the recently widowed Betty McLeish, worth millions. Was this review helpful to you? It isn’t long before Roy has actually moved in as a platonic house guest to the astonished ... a postgraduate student who occasionally stays overnight at Betty’s house. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Written by When published in 2016, it was an immediate success, inspiring a contest for the publishing rights, along with comparisons to the work of John Le Carre. And, if an old-fashioned thriller is what you have in mind, there’s “The Good Liar.”. When wooing Betty, he makes an unsubtle bid for her sympathy by assuming the crab-like walk of an old man with a bad knee. You can just about forgive the minor inconsistencies. (2019). It’s already clear Betty, a cashed-up widow, is next on his list. Two of Condon’s earlier films, Gods and Monsters (1998) and Mr Holmes (2015), co-written by Hatcher, revolve around characters haunted by their past actions. As Betty opens her home and life to him, Roy is surprised to find himself caring about her, turning what should be a cut-and-dry swindle into the most treacherous tightrope walk of his life. Helen Mirren plays a widow targeted by Ian McKellen's conman in The Good Liar. Some good acting by the lead guy but I didn't like the violent scenes, too graphic for a what could have been a fairly light-hearted thriller. Despite my criticisms of The Good Liar, both the ease with which Roy convinces Betty, and the size of her fortune, are entirely believable. View production, box office, & company info. ; English with English Subtitles Director: Bill Condon Cast: Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen, Russell Tovey, a.o. It’s only when the action shifts briefly to Berlin that we begin to get an inkling of the events powering the whole narrative. It isn’t long before Roy has actually moved in as a platonic house guest to the astonished disapproval of Betty’s grandson Steven (Russell Tovey) a postgraduate student who occasionally stays overnight at Betty’s house.
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