The Good Liar (2019)

Directed by Bill Condon. Starring Ian McKellen, Helen Mirren, Russell Tovey, Jim Carter, Mark Lewis Jones, Phil Dunster, Spike White, Nell Williams, Laurie Davidson. [R]

Elderly con artist McKellen sets his sights on well-to-do widower Mirren, and she takes the ruse at face value despite the skepticism of her grandson (Tovey)…but as is all-but-guaranteed in a grifter picture, twists and double-crosses will pile up before the end credits. Handsomely-produced sleight-of-hander lacks resonance and the structural strength to withstand all the contrivances, but does provide the opportunity to see two British acting legends work together for the first time in a movie (they’d only previously appeared on the stage with each other). The final act revelation can be seen coming a mile away, but the reasons why cannot since the script plays unfair by springing entirely new material told through extended flashback—the motivation could be changed at will without needing to change anything from the previous hour-and-a-quarter. Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from the same-named novel by Nicholas Searle.

56/100