Review: The Good Liar

Image courtesy of Warner Bros.

It's somewhat of a task to review Bill Condon's "The Good Liar" while keeping in mind not to give away spoilers because the entire film is a series of plot twists that inform where the story goes next. That being said, I'd imagine a number of viewers will see where the picture is heading ahead of time - I did, at least in terms of the film's biggest plot twist, despite not being able to foresee the various details regarding it - but I still make it a point to try not to ruin movies for those who want to go in knowing little to nothing.

The film is a thriller about a con man named Roy (Ian McKellen at his most vicious) who pulls off a variety of schemes to bilk wealthy people out of their money, and doesn't mind resorting to violence when necessary. In the film, he meets a widowed woman named Betty (Helen Mirren) online, and we know all along he's coming up with ways to steal her money - which, according to Betty, adds up to a few million dollars.

"The Good Liar" is a cat-and-mouse type of thriller, in which various twists realign what we think about each of the characters and cause us to reassess who we think will come out on top. Betty has a grandson named Stephen (Russell Tovey) who suspects something is up with Roy, and who continually drops warnings to his grandmother, who is quick to come to Roy's defense.

The picture includes several flashbacks to World War II-era Germany - the film itself is set in 2009 for reasons obviously involving the characters' ages - that slowly unveil exactly what is going on and why various characters act the way they do. The film doesn't exactly do this organically - scenes set in the past pop up at the end and reveal details at which no one watching the film could have guessed, rather than laying clues throughout the movie.

On the one hand, we cringe when Roy swindles Betty into merging her bank account with his - this takes place after the two have hit it off and, during a somewhat unbelievable sequence, decide to become roommates - but on the other, we always feel as if the rug is about to be pulled out from under us again.

Condon's body of work has included heavy dramas (the great "Gods and Monsters" and "Kinsey"), musicals ("Dreamgirls") and even a "Twilight" sequel (not one of his better outings as a director), but "The Good Liar" fits more in line with some early, low budget mysteries that he made. While his latest is better than those pictures, "The Good Liar" mostly works because two great actors are able to play off each other and have a little fun in the process. It's an amusing enough thriller that works in spite of some storytelling choices that are at times a little obvious and as well as a good showcase for its great leads.