"The Good Liar"

 ☆☆☆ 

The Good Liar is a good movie, not a great one, but taut, twisty and enjoyable. You may see those twists coming, you may even (if you're particularly clever) figure out some of them in advance, but the present of Ian McKellen and, especially, Helen Mirren raise it all a cut above where it needs to be.

Working from a novel by Nicholas Searle, director Bill Condon has crafted an affably relaxed mystery-thriller that relies on its magnetic central performances to keep interest in the film from waning during some of its more melodramatic revelations.

The two legendary actors both play widowed and, ahem, mature Londoners who meet on an online dating service and click. Though there's no noticeable romantic spark between them (nor, particularly,  electric chemistry between the actors), which becomes an important part of the film's plot. For most of the movie, we follow McKellen's Ray, a moderately suave con man who is clearly not at all what he appears. He's a swindler, and his partner in crime Vincent (Jim Carter) soon have their eyes on Mirren's modest yet wealthy Betty.

Her suspicious grandson (Russell Tovey) almost immediately doubts Ray, leading to a series of flashbacks (lazy plot devices, perhaps, but still fun) that reveal a web of deception. The revelations may not be as "shocking" as they hope to be, but still and all The Good Liar is entertainingly modest, a good story well told, and the kind of simple, straightforward thriller that is increasingly, distressingly rare.

Viewed ArcLight Sherman Oaks -- Nov. 16, 2019

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