Mirren and McKellen steal the show in The Good Liar
The chemistry between these two acting great, in this, their first screen collaboration, is worth the price of admission alone.
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THE GOOD LIAR
Three stars
Director: Bill Condon
Starring: Ian McKellen, Helen Mirren, Russell Tovey
Rating: M
Running time: 109 minutes
Verdict: A couple of crafty performances sell this elaborate con
Since acting is a kind of confidence trick, Ian McKellen might already be described as a master fraudster. This goes some way to explaining the delicious collusion we feel as we watch his veteran grifter impersonate a harmless old codger for the purposes of swindling a sweet little old lady out of her inheritance.
A narrowed eye, early on in the piece, clues us in to the fact that McKellen’s Roy Courtnay is no gentleman thief.
That nasty edge is confirmed in the second act by a swift and brutal counter-attack which highlights the man’s utter lack of compunction and balances out The Good Liar’s Old Testament ending.
In the interests of financial diversification, or perhaps just to keep himself amused, Courtnay specialises in two kinds of marks: the arrogant and the innocent.
To prove the point, he goes straight from his blind online date with Betty McLeish (Helen Mirren) to an elaborate banking hustle involving a couple of gullible London investors whom he distracts with champagne nd strippers.
Adding more layers to the seasoned British thespian’s scam is Dame Helen (The Queen, Prime Suspect, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover). With an actor of her formidable reputation in the role, one wouldn’t want to underestimate the widow in question.
Starved of companionship, McLeish dives, feet first, into the new relationship — despite the warnings from her overprotective grandson (Russell Tovey).
For someone who taught history at Oxford University, the seventy-something widow seems strangely naive. But academics aren’t necessarily worldly, and McLeish only lost her husband a year ago.
An occasional tart comment and raucous laugh are enough to suggest hidden depths.
The longer this romance plays out, the more we realise how much there is going on beneath the surface. As to what, well, on that front the filmmakers keep us guessing right up until the end.
If the final twists and turns feel a little too far-fetched to be completely satisfying, there’s a certain consolation in the intricacy with which they unravel.
And the chemistry between these two acting legends, in this, their first screen collaboration, is worth the price of admission alone.
Based on the novel by Nicholas Searle, and directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Beauty And The Beast), The Good Liar is a captivating game of cat and mouse executed by two consummate pros.
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