This is an obvious "con artist and victim who turns on him" plot -- done far better in "House of Games" with Joe Mantegna, years ago.
It drags in a whole Nazi theme, which is unnecessary and overly complicated, and reminds me ONCE AGAIN that it's gotten too late to have these "secret Nazi" plots or themes. WWII is now 75 years ago! anyone old enough to be an adult then, is dead or in their 90s. (My dad was a late entry into the war, being born in 1926. If alive today in 2020, he'd be 94! a person that age can barely walk, and let alone carry out a complex con artist job!)
The film weakly tries to get around this by claiming "it's happening in 2009!" which isn't much help -- just means that 92 year old is 82. Still not a lot of 82 year olds capable of stuff like pushing a much younger man in front of a speeding train!!!
The other problem is that both actors are ridiculously hale and hearty, and Helen Mirren (who is gorgeous here) was only about 71 or 72 when it was filmed, and could easily pass for her 60s.
The cons are far too complex to work out in real life. And I found a GIANT flaw in the plot (don't know if the book has this problem as well, I have only seen the film).
In the beginning, we see con artist Roy (McKellan) scouting personal ads, looking for an elderly rich widow to scam. BUT....later we find out that not only is Betty (Helen Mirren) doing the same....she is ACTIVELY looking for Roy and only Roy, to get revenge on him for raping her during WWII. WOW! talk about finding a needle in a haystack! and after 65 years! who would even imagine the man you were after is still alive? or that you could identify him? you couldn't go by looks! he'd already changed his name and nationality! (which she had no way to know -- logically, "Lily" should be looking for "HANS TAUB", and any records search would show Hans died in 1947 or so).
It is just NOT POSSIBLE that Betty/Lily could know that Roy/Hans switched identities with a dead British soldier...in 1947! It is NOT POSSIBLE she could know his NEW name or what he looked like! Or that he was not still in Berlin! It would be an utterly ridiculous search and what if it turned up that Hans was dead? or married and living peacefully for 65 years with a wife? how could she know he'd be SINGLE and in the UK? and looking on dating websites?
So was it just a fluke? that out of hundreds of millions of people in Germany, Britain, the EU....the ONE GUY who raped her in 1943 is not only IN LONDON....but also on the same online dating website? That's an insane amount of coincidence! and THEN finding that out, and having the presence of mind to instantly know that "yes, this is the man who destroyed my family and my life" AND formulate an insanely complex plan to con him out of all his money -- that involves her son-in-law (why not her SON? so they could work in a gay angle?) and renting/furnishing a remote rural house? and living with the man she hates this much for MONTHS ON END?
Just implausible on every level, so the final "reveals" and "revenge" carry no weight at all....no satisfaction....even make you feel a bit bad for Roy, who is so weak he gets the stuffings beaten out of him by an OLD LADY! and ends up in nursing home, paralyzed & dead broke....while making you feel no sympathy for Betty, who turns out is not just a wealthy widow, but crazy megabucks rich (she apparently lives in Downtown Abbey! not kidding!). Why would someone that staggeringly wealthy (tens of millions of pounds, honestly!) not just hire thugs or detectives to do the dirty work? why do it yourself and risk getting hurt or worse?
>> face palm <<
Can't recommend, unless you want to watch two old pros at work for a few hours.
It drags in a whole Nazi theme, which is unnecessary and overly complicated, and reminds me ONCE AGAIN that it's gotten too late to have these "secret Nazi" plots or themes. WWII is now 75 years ago! anyone old enough to be an adult then, is dead or in their 90s. (My dad was a late entry into the war, being born in 1926. If alive today in 2020, he'd be 94! a person that age can barely walk, and let alone carry out a complex con artist job!)
The film weakly tries to get around this by claiming "it's happening in 2009!" which isn't much help -- just means that 92 year old is 82. Still not a lot of 82 year olds capable of stuff like pushing a much younger man in front of a speeding train!!!
The other problem is that both actors are ridiculously hale and hearty, and Helen Mirren (who is gorgeous here) was only about 71 or 72 when it was filmed, and could easily pass for her 60s.
The cons are far too complex to work out in real life. And I found a GIANT flaw in the plot (don't know if the book has this problem as well, I have only seen the film).
In the beginning, we see con artist Roy (McKellan) scouting personal ads, looking for an elderly rich widow to scam. BUT....later we find out that not only is Betty (Helen Mirren) doing the same....she is ACTIVELY looking for Roy and only Roy, to get revenge on him for raping her during WWII. WOW! talk about finding a needle in a haystack! and after 65 years! who would even imagine the man you were after is still alive? or that you could identify him? you couldn't go by looks! he'd already changed his name and nationality! (which she had no way to know -- logically, "Lily" should be looking for "HANS TAUB", and any records search would show Hans died in 1947 or so).
It is just NOT POSSIBLE that Betty/Lily could know that Roy/Hans switched identities with a dead British soldier...in 1947! It is NOT POSSIBLE she could know his NEW name or what he looked like! Or that he was not still in Berlin! It would be an utterly ridiculous search and what if it turned up that Hans was dead? or married and living peacefully for 65 years with a wife? how could she know he'd be SINGLE and in the UK? and looking on dating websites?
So was it just a fluke? that out of hundreds of millions of people in Germany, Britain, the EU....the ONE GUY who raped her in 1943 is not only IN LONDON....but also on the same online dating website? That's an insane amount of coincidence! and THEN finding that out, and having the presence of mind to instantly know that "yes, this is the man who destroyed my family and my life" AND formulate an insanely complex plan to con him out of all his money -- that involves her son-in-law (why not her SON? so they could work in a gay angle?) and renting/furnishing a remote rural house? and living with the man she hates this much for MONTHS ON END?
Just implausible on every level, so the final "reveals" and "revenge" carry no weight at all....no satisfaction....even make you feel a bit bad for Roy, who is so weak he gets the stuffings beaten out of him by an OLD LADY! and ends up in nursing home, paralyzed & dead broke....while making you feel no sympathy for Betty, who turns out is not just a wealthy widow, but crazy megabucks rich (she apparently lives in Downtown Abbey! not kidding!). Why would someone that staggeringly wealthy (tens of millions of pounds, honestly!) not just hire thugs or detectives to do the dirty work? why do it yourself and risk getting hurt or worse?
>> face palm <<
Can't recommend, unless you want to watch two old pros at work for a few hours.