Film Review | The Good Liar

Films can be thrilling and surprising or predictable presentations that don't challenge the viewer.

A Good Liar combines elements from food and film to weave a story of deception and lies.

Dating online can be a daunting and chancy experience for anyone. Roy Courtnay (Ian McKellan) and Betty McLeish (Helen Mirren) are seniors with a desire to meet another person of a similar age for companionship and possibly romance.

The deception begins when both Betty and Roy fabricate details of their identity, beginning with their names, to protect themselves in case the first date doesn't go well, the other person is unsuitable or to make themselves seem more desirable.

That's where the lies and deceptions begin and they snowball from there.

There appears to be a mutual attraction between Roy and Betty but one quickly becomes suspicious of their motives, especially with Roy.

He is shown to be a rogue and con man. And Betty is in his sights as his next victim. He, along with fellow conman, Vincent (Jim Carter), plans to lighten Betty's burden of wealth by stealing her life savings. Despicable rogues, indeed.

A complication appears when Roy begins to have genuine feelings for Betty.

But looking at the title again, A Good Liar, it is clear that there might be more than meets the eye when it comes to the facts.

Each person is keeping secrets. The unravelling of those secrets is the real flavour behind The Good Liar.

You might be wondering where the comparison with film and food comes into play in A Good Liar.

A Good Liar has superior ingredients in the form of actors Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen, and Jim Carter. And a top rate director, Bill Condon. Yet, like a bland meal, The Good Liar neither is unpleasant nor scintillating. It exists somewhere in the middle like the difference between a spaghetti bolognese and a spicy, aromatic sizzling Moroccan tagine.

The Good Liar is flat and even in its delivery. It doesn't lack quality but it doesn't deliver thrills and tension. There is no spark between Roy and Betty.

To give you a true sense of its ineffectiveness, I was able to determine the true nature of the deception early in the film. I got the reason for the deception wrong but I identified the who and the what straight away. When you've figured out the basics of the lie, the rest of the film is a slow plod without deviation from the expected.

The Good Liar is too evenly paced, too comfortable and lacks spiciness.