The Good Liar (2019)

The Plot of The Good Liar: Roy Courtney is an old time con man, usually working with another guy, Vincent Halloran. Their technique is to offer a sure fire investment to the mark, or marks, which required everyone to contribute equal large sums to a joint account. Everyone uses a purpose made keypad allowing them all to see how much money is in the joint account. However, by slight of hand Roy and Vincent recover all the money for themselves. After a successful scam Roy starts to cultivate a friendship with Betty McLeish which has a few million available. They go through the same process, although Betty’s nephew, Stephen, recommends caution, even though by now Roy is staying in Betty’s house. However, when they all take a joint holiday in Berlin, to celebrate their investment success things start to fall apart for Roy.

Content: There is a rape but decorously presented, and a glimpse of a naked dancer in Stringfellows. Also quite a bit of social drinking, but no-one gets drunk. We see Roy and Vincent at work and then a lot of social activity with Betty. At one point Roy manages to throw a previous mark under a train undetected. Betty lives in a moderate bungalow – apparently – there I’ve given it all away. The holiday in Berlin causes some flashbacks to a moment close to the beginning of the war, and one after the war. In the end Roy and Betty face each other and all is revealed.

A View: One of the critics suggested that the twists in the plot would have been easier to conceal in the book than they were in the film, and while McKellan and Mirren do very well, I don’t think they can quite carry it off. It is difficult to voice one’s dissatisfaction with the plot, without revealing all, but I would say this. My wife is a Spaniard who speaks perfect English, but because she learnt the language as an adult she has an accent. The only genuinely bilingual people are those who have been brought up from childhood speaking two languages. So Roy and Betty speak perfect English, but here’s the twist, it is not their native language. Maybe a watch for nothing – while doing your knitting.

Fun Fact: In Berlin Stephen says he is going to visit Spandau. In fact Spandau had been demolished, ground to dust and dumped in the sea to prevent it becoming a neo-Nazi shrine.