The Good Liar is a 2019 crime thriller film directed and produced by Bill Condon and written by Jeffrey Hatcher, based on the 2015 novel of the same name by Nicholas Searle.
It stars Ian McKellen as a career con artist who meets a wealthy widow (Helen Mirren) online, and then discovers that his plan to steal her fortune has unexpected roadblocks.
In 2009 London, ageing con artist Roy Courtnay's latest target is Betty McLeish, a recently widowed woman who has savings in excess of £2 million.
Simultaneously, Roy and his business partner Vincent run an investment scam with their mark Bryn and his associate by employing fake Russian investors.
Stephen reveals that "Roy Courtnay"— a young British Army officer — was killed there in 1948 by a Nazi war criminal whom he was tracking, according to Soviet records.
Stephen, who was actually the boyfriend of Lili's real grandson Michael, tracked Roy/Hans's criminal history and they confirmed his identity in a DNA test using a locket from Betty/Lili's childhood that contained a piece of Hans's hair.
[4] In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Charlie's Angels and Ford v Ferrari, and was projected to gross around $5 million from 2,439 theaters in its opening weekend.
The website's critics consensus reads, "The Good Liar is less than the sum of its prestigious parts, but Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren keep the proceedings consistently watchable.
"[18] Peter Sobczynski writing for RogerEbert.com gave the movie two and half stars out of four and stated, "...it quickly becomes apparent that this is one of those stories where nothing is quite as it seems, and leading to a shocking revelation that most will see coming, at least in the broad strokes.
"[22] The Adelaide Review gave the movie 7/10 points, noting, "Helen and Ian's first film together (although they've previously appeared as a double-act on the stage), this has an especially complex and even unpleasant performance by him, but she's no slouch too, and it's good to see Tovey holding his own in scenes alongside these two 'national treasures'.
""[23] In his review for Rolling Stone, David Fear gave the film two stars out of five and wrote, "The real question is: Are you willing to endure all of that random swerving for the simple pleasure of these performers' company?
For all its nasty twists and turns, its fake-outs and flashbacks and cheekily preposterous pile-up of double-crosses, this story of an elderly con man and the wealthy widow he targets feels fatally devoid of danger.
Square, tame and tidy as the London-area house kept by Mirren's primly elegant, creamy-complexioned septuagenarian, The Good Liar is a work of skill but little spark.
"Two superb actors from the grand culture of English drama – Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen – are enough reason to pull you into this intriguing tale of deception...
"[26] David Hughes of Empire gave the film three stars out of five, commenting, "...even if you know what's coming, there's joy in watching two flawless performances from these much-loved veteran actors, relishing every nuance of their characters, and every moment of their time on screen.
It may be a shaggy-dog story, with occasional lapses into melodrama, but Mirren and McKellen are on sparkling form, and when a film aimed primarily at pensioners employs both the C-word and gory injury detail, you can't accuse it of being boring.
"[27] David Ehrlich of IndieWire stated, "...it's Mirren who's ultimately asked to carry this movie across the finish line, and she does so with oodles of her signature elan.
The final stretches of Condon's film are so ludicrous that you almost feel swindled for caring about the movie until that point, but Mirren grounds one plot twist after another with the gravity of her conviction (and a little help from Carter Burwell's lilting, uneasy, "Mr. Holmes"-esque score).
"The Good Liar" may not have much to say about redemption, entrapment, or the fibs that can hold a friendship together, but the past is only so important to a wicked little thriller that delights in the moment at hand.