A Grande Mentira

Ian McKellen is a a con man. He's got an updated version of the Spanish Prisoner that convinces the mark to send hundreds of thousand of pounds into the pockets of his crew and him, and he has a profitable sideline in mildly scatterbrained but cash-rich old ladies, whom he romances and then shows a route to major profits.... for McKellen, that is. Mild-mannered widow Helen Mirren has come right into his sights, and despite Russell Tovey as her overprotective grandson, McKellen sees enough money to pay for a lavish retirement.

I spotted largely where this was going early on -- I have a fondness for good movies about confidence tricksters -- and I expect anyone who knows the conman trope in movies to catch on pretty early. Nonetheless, it's always fun for me to watch two professionals do their work, whether they're gardeners pruning the bushes properly or two skilled and charismatic actors performing in roles written for them; this is McKellen's fourth movie with director Bill Condon, and the second time Jeffrey Hatcher has written the screenplay for the actor/director combination; and who does not wish to write for Miss Mirren? So I had a very good time, and I expect most people will.

Plus it's a very good poster.

Actors have to work with the material they're given once they sign on. This was one move where they should have passed on save the money they were paid. It was quite predictable in many ways and the flashback story went off the rails where the movie would have been far better if they didn't spend so much time on it. Quite disappointing overall!

My biggest beef with this movie is that the timeline doesn't work. The main characters are too young for the events that happen in the flashbacks. 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. However kept me interested except at the very end which was dragged out about 10 minutes too long.

My Review : The Good Liar my rating 8.5

No Spoilers as usual from me except to say the trailers of The Good Liar give us only an inkling into the complex maze the plot reveals and that it's a master class in great acting from Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Helen Mirren.

I think it's the finest performance from Ian McKellen since his Oscar nominated role in Gods and Monsters in 1999 and I'm not surprised that Bill Condon the director of this film also directed Ian McKellen in Gods and Monsters.

In The Good Liar Ian McKellen is cast as Roy Courtnay who meets Helen Mirren cast as Betty McLeish on a mature age dating site it soon becomes apparently clear that Roy's motives are not honourable in any way shape or form it takes us a lot longer to reveal Betty's true motive. In the meantime we meet Betty's hunky handsome protective Grandson Stephen perfectly played by Russell Tovey who seeks out to find out all he can about his Grandmother's new border and boyfriend.

Jim Carter who plays Mr Carson in Downton Abbey is very impressive in the very different role of Vincent the best friend of Roy Courtney and "business associate " it's a great ensemble cast and this film has some great plot twisters and surprises that at times may seem a little improbable but that didn't bother me a bit.

It's the performances of McKellen and Mirren that are sublime, subtle and mesmerising the range of these two actors is astonishing when you think back to characters like Helen Mirren in The Queen or Catherine the Great and Maria Altman in Woman in Gold then Ian McKellen as Gandalf or James Whale in Gods and Monsters and King Lear to see them together in a film for the first time ,they have appeared on stage together in 2001 in Dance of Death on Broadway.

I must mention the great score by Carter Burwell it's perfect and gives great atmosphere to the emotional and suspenseful plot I really like his scores and this is up with his previous film scores for Carol, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing ,Missouri and In Bruges.

I really enjoyed The Good Liar go see it and don't let anyone tell you the outcome of this complex story.

It's not an overly bad film by any sense of the word, I actually enjoyed it a fair bit hence the 7 but I will echo that it was a fairly predictable job but the outstanding cast definitely carried it, I'd recommend it if your on the unlimited cinema deal or when it arrives to one of the multiple streaming services, good twist at the end