Good Liar (2019) is a bad time
Director: Bill Condon (Twilight: Breaking Up My Relationships)
Writers: Jeffrey Hatcher (Mr. Holmes and a Columbo), Nicholas Searle (novel, that's all)
Stars: Helen Mirren (Caligula, Fate of the Furious, my dreams), Ian McKellen (Gandalf, older Magneto, my dreams), Russell Tovey (Being Human, Helen Mirren's dreams)
Roy (McKellen) and Betty (Mirren) both go online to meet someone to fulfill their desires. Hitting it off in a restaurant, they start a close relationship that soon leads to Roy moving in with Betty despite Betty's grandson Stephen (Tovey) smelling something fishy with Roy. Stephen's correct, too, as Roy is a conman looking to steal all of Betty's money.
The acting is a collection of powerhouses. McKellen and Mirren have never shared the screen together. When they get to talking, it's electric. Both are consummate professionals doing the best with the material.
That material, however. Woo. It's not bad, but the script is also not good. From the first scene, the story wants to be a deep character study on predatory conmen. What it hits is a shallow story of a bastard preying upon a sweet old lady. While the novel surely gave the character more depth and range, the script made Roy unsympathetic and at times loathsome. By the time the final twist came, it was a release to just see the monster get his comeuppance and be done with the whole affair.
I am struggling not to slam the whole production. The leads had such promise, the premise is a good one, but the whole thing just felt tired. Even the direction is good, a professional bit of business that is slick and stylish without calling attention to itself. This could easily be a by the numbers murder plot, but Condon gave it his all to make the story have some depth and to highlight the two great actors he had the grace to end up with.
Overall, I cannot recommend this movie beyond the performances. Everything just felt wrong from the start, a non-mystery that seems more like a giggling child with its hand behind its back than a real story with a twist.
Get this one from the library on one of those nights you need to get to bed early.