Respond to these rapid questions in our The Good Liar quiz and we will tell you which The Good Liar character you are. Play it now.
When I sit down to write a review, I make it a point not to reveal any plot details that could be considered spoilers, and I make it a point not to reveal anything that hasn’t been shown in the trailers. Still, I’m at a loss for what to say about “The Good Liar” because it isn’t the kind of film where there are only a couple of minor details that should be avoided at all costs. In this case, no matter how cagily I handle the details of the film’s existence, right down to its title and cast list, they could very well be considered spoilers by some observers, no matter how cagily I handle the details of its existence. As a result, if you are particularly sensitive to such things, I would recommend that you simply disregard this review and save yourself the aggravation. It’s possible that I could just tell you right now whether you should see it or not if you’re one of those people, but I don’t want to spoil it for the rest of you.
The film, which takes place in London in 2009, begins with two people of a certain age chatting on a dating website and agreeing to meet for a casual dinner. This is where Roy (Ian McKellan) and Betty (Helen Mirren) meet, and after a brief period of awkwardness (each of them used a fictitious name on the internet), they quickly become friends and fall in love. Their relationship is not necessarily romantic in nature—Betty had just lost her husband a year earlier and is not yet ready for something of that nature—but they grow close enough to each other that when Roy’s bum knee gives way one night, Betty doesn’t hesitate to invite him to spend the night in her tastefully appointed home with her and her family. With the exception of Betty’s grandson Steven (Russell Torvy), this otherwise sweet-sounding story is marred by Steven’s suspicion of Roy and his concern that his vulnerable grandmother is rushing into things far too quickly.
Because Roy is a con artist who enjoys defrauding women like Betty out of their savings, we already know that Steven’s suspicions were correct at this point in the story. He doesn’t do it for the money so much as for the sheer thrill of pulling a fast one on someone who, in this day and age, might consider themselves too intelligent to fall for a con, and who would certainly be too embarrassed to report it to the authorities and risk public humiliation. His strategy, with the assistance of his business partner (Jim Carter), is to persuade Betty that, as a means of planning for their financial futures, they should place their respective bankrolls (with hers totaling nearly three million pounds) into a joint account that they will both have access to but which he will, of course, drain immediately before disappearing. Despite the fact that Roy has performed variations of this scam numerous times in the past, there are a couple of complications this time. For example, one of the victims of his previous job makes an unexpected reappearance in the story. Even though that individual is dealt with quickly and efficiently (if not in the most messy way possible), the situation has been complicated by the possibility of Roy developing feelings for Betty, especially after learning of some health issues she has kept hidden. Soon after, the two decide to take a vacation, and it is at this point that I must beg you to refrain from disclosing any further information.
But you shouldn’t waste any more time and start this The Good Liar quiz.
The film “The Good Liar” was directed by Bill Condon, who is best known for directing such high-profile adult-oriented projects as “Gods and Monsters,” “Kinsey,” and “Mr. Holmes.” Condon also has a side gig directing musical extravaganzas such as “Dreamgirls,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “The Greatest Showman.” He had previously directed a number of low-budget and occasionally gory potboilers with titles like “Murder 101,” “Dead in the Water,” “Deadly Relations,” and “The Man Who Wouldn’t Die”—all of which could have been used as effective alternate titles for this one if it had been released earlier. Taking a storyline (adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from a novel by Nicholas Searle) that is undeniably twisty and trashy in equal measure and using the formidable presence of the two leads to distract when the story threatens to go off the rails, this film feels like a fusion of those two otherwise disparate filmmaking periods in a number of ways. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that nothing is quite what it appears to be, and the characters come to a shocking realization that, at least in broad strokes, will be predicted by the audience. A film of this nature necessitates an impenetrable plot—or at the very least one that is impenetrable enough to prevent you from questioning things while the film is playing—but there are a few too many instances in which characters say and do things solely because the plot demands it of them.
The Good Liar Quiz
The film is relatively light for the first half of its running time. However, during the course of the second act, it begins to introduce some fairly dark thematic material that clashes awkwardly with the film’s earlier tone, and this eventually leads to some revelations in the final act that are so bleak and despairing that they end up throwing the entire film off balance. However, without going into specifics, I have no objections to the content, but the film has not earned the right to use such emotionally charged material in this type of setting. I can’t comment on how well the book handled these developments because I haven’t read it, but Condon seems unable to find a suitable or satisfying way to incorporate them into his story.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this The Good Liar quiz.
Final verdict: “The Good Liar” is a near-miss that provides some amusing diversionary moments along its way, the most notable of which is the brilliant pairing of the two leads in the first place. Even if their work here doesn’t make any lists of the top 20 or so performances of their careers, the sheer enjoyment that can be had from watching them interact with one another helps to give their scenes a punch that they might have lacked in other hands. Condon, on the other hand, keeps things running smoothly and even throws in a well-staged suspense sequence set in the Charing Cross underground station for good measure. In its entirety, “The Good Liar” isn’t quite good enough to merit the comparisons to the works of Alfred Hitchcock that it is clearly aiming for, though it is just good enough to suggest what Hitchcock himself might have done with it if given another chance.
For more personality quizzes check this: The Wolf Of Snow Hollow Quiz.
