'The Good Liar' - A Sir and a Dame Play a Deceitful Game

The title says it all. It's just a matter of who's lying, who's not, or who are not lying, or who's the better liar? These questions keep the film mysteriously fun all throughout. While the audience gets to witness Sir Ian McKellen's charming character's lies, we root for Helen Mirren's old lady character who's brimming with poise and wisdom.

Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures

McKellen plays a con man who has found a prey in Helen Mirren's Betty Mcleish, a rich, recently widowed woman, worth millions of pounds. They met via an online dating website that seems designed for elderly people. Like anybody else before meeting their blind date, both tried to impress each other by fabricating some of the truths about themselves. Roy said he doesn't smoke as he smokes a joint in his room while Betty doesn't drink as she sips a vodka beside her laptop. Upon their meeting, they confessed about their reality and the cliches in 'eyeballs' and ended up enjoying each other's company. Their sudden and innocent flirtations escalated into a game of deceit, revealing a shocking story involving a slice of world history.

Penned by Jeffrey Hatcher from Nicholas Searle's novel, The Good Liar is impossible to figure out from the get-go. Its stories are intertwined with the past, but the approach is very modern with a bit of melodrama overall.

Ian McKellen has never been this charming, and Helen Mirren has always been this bold. Together they create an engaging screen presence as they play these playful old couple who has newfound energy because of each other. Russell Tovey, who plays Betty's suspicious grandson also holds his own. Everyone has their own time to shine.

In a way, The Good Liar's twist is not its most exciting factor. Rather, it's the character's motives and their antiquity. Mirren and McKellen's characters have substance and complexity to them and these actors play them with such youthful energy in spite of their roles' ages.

The Good Liar also shows an authentic look to old widowed people looking for companionship, however different their motives may be and however crazy the story evolves throughout the film. It's intimate, fun, exciting and the third act is deliciously satisfying.