PROS AND CONS

MOVIE
The Good Liar
Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen
Director Bill Condon
Review Ray Chan

WHEN a movie is titled The Good Liar, we already suspect from the start that things are not going to be quite what they seem.
    And within the first 10 minutes, it does seem pretty predictable how things might eventually wind up.
    Indeed, critics might even point out that the plot suffers from the way developments appear to be telegraphed, but ultimately there is really a deeper, more sinister side to the story, which unfolds like a set of Babushka dolls.
    The film starts with two strangers of senior years, Betty McLeish (Mirren) and Roy Courtnay (McKellen), out on a dinner date.
    Roy is in fact a con artist, and despite his charm, it’s quite clear that even while he claims piously that he “despises dishonesty above all else,” his life is one big lie.
    The genial, trusting Betty appears to be besotted by Roy, so much so that within days she’s let him move into the guest room of her suburban home, despite the protests of grandson Stephen (Russell Tovey).
    Along the way, Roy and his partner-in-crime Vincent (Jim Carter) conspire to convince Betty to transfer all her life savings into a joint account, which they duly expect to drain.
    But is the demure dame really that naïve?
    Agreeing to go on a holiday with Roy, she strangely expresses a preference for Berlin, and it’s on this trip to Germany that things start to get complicated, and the mood darkens so much it almost becomes another film.
    Ultimately, what makes the movie click despite its story shortfalls is the consummate and seemingly effortless performance of the two main leads, who are an enormous pleasure to watch, both individually and playing off each other on screen – almost unbelievably – for the first time in their decades-long careers.
    Mirren and McKellen never dither, and their eloquence, elegance and ability to register multiple subtle changes of emotion is consistently impressive.
    Indeed, they’re the best kind of liars: actors playing actors pretending not to be actors, and doing it with panache and professionalism.


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