The Good Liar (2019)

Consummate con man Roy Courtnay has set his sights on his latest mark: the recently widowed Betty McLeish, worth millions. But this time, what should have been a simple swindle escalates into a cat-and-mouse game with the ultimate stakes.

Director:

Bill Condon

Writers:

Nicholas Searle (based on the novel by), Jeffrey Hatcher (screenplay by)

Stars:

Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen, Russell Tovey

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Helen Mirren	...	Betty McLeish
Ian McKellen	...	Roy Courtnay
Russell Tovey	...	Stephen
Jim Carter	...	Vincent
Mark Lewis Jones	...	Bryn
Laurie Davidson	...	Hans Taub (1948)
Phil Dunster	...	Roy Courtnay (1948)
Lucian Msamati	...	Beni
Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson	...	Vlad
Tunji Kasim	...	Michael
Spike White	...	Hans Taub (1943)
Stella Stocker	...	Frau Schröder
Daniel Betts	...	Herr Schröder
Nell Williams	...	Lili
Celine Buckens	...	Annalise

Storyline

Career con artist Roy Courtnay (Sir Ian McKellen) can hardly believe his luck when he meets well-to-do widow Betty McLeish (Dame Helen Mirren) on-line. As Betty opens her home and life to him, Roy is surprised to find himself caring about her, turning what should be a cut-and-dry swindle into the most treacherous tightrope walk of his life.

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Plot Keywords:

past coming back to haunt | rape | fraud | con artist | widow | 

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Taglines:

Read between the lies

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some strong violence, and for language and brief nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sir Ian McKellen and Jim Carter appeared in Richard III (1995), which was co-written by McKellen.

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Goofs

in 2009, Stephen tells Betty and Roy he is going to Spandau Prison to do research. Spandau Prison was demolished, literally ground to dust, and dumped at sea in 1987 to forestall neo-Nazis from turning it into a shrine. A shopping mall was built on the land.

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Quotes

Betty McLeish: And that umbrella looks as though it's seen better days.
Roy Courtnay: That's seen me through the war.
Betty McLeish: Yes, on the losing side by the looks of it.

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Connections

References Inglourious Basterds (2009)

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Soundtracks

Where or When
Written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
Performed by Ray Heatherton & His Orchestra
Courtesy of Cleopatra Records
By arrangement with The Orchard

User Reviews

Unpredictable but not in a good way

The film is pretty decent overall and I certainly wasn't bored at any point whilst watching it, however it kind of falls apart at the end. That's due to the events that occur towards the very end of the movie which are totally unpredictable. Often times it's great to be surprised but sometimes the surprise can be a let down as is the case with this film. As I was watching the twist unfold I was totally dumbfounded because nothing prepares you for it and there's absolutely no way anyone could predict that would happen. It's definitely not one of those movies in which you can piece together how it will end so don't even try. I went along with the twist as it happened but the more I though about it I simply did not like it and found it to be dumb and utterly unbelievable. The movie already had a lot of moments up until that point that asked me to suspend my disbelief but that was simply too much. However, overall I still enjoyed the movie but had it ended differently without the surprise I probably would've ended up giving it a 7.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Instagram

Country:

UK Germany USA

Language:

English German Russian French Spanish

Release Date:

15 November 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Good Liar

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,605,051, 17 November 2019

Gross USA:

$17,156,058

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$33,856,058

Company Credits

Production Co:

BRON Studios, Creative Wealth Media Finance, New Line Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1