The good liar review

[Westside Steve]

The Good Liar
Warner Brothers / New Line
R                      150 min
 Here’s a little piece of trivia for you which age group goes to see the most movies? The answer as I think I already knew is 25 to 39 who, at 24%, are the largest single Group which explains the targeting by the studios. What surprised me was the second largest group weighing in at 21% are seniors 60 and over. In light of that statistic I’m surprised there aren’t more films targeted towards older Americans. The few that are usually follow the same modus operandi. Find yourself a handful of senior citizen actors put them in a situation where they are facing disrespect from snotty youngsters and have them pull off some type of Adventure or Heist and come out Victorious. I’m pleased to say this one is different. I wouldn’t have necessarily guessed the path it would take from the previews but at least one knows that it will be a solid effort given a cast that includes Ian McKellen, Helen Mirren and Jim Carter. 
Yes the movie is based on the elements of a con film but not in the manner of the over-the-hill Gang where the outlaws were sweet and lovable. Not at all. Here the group of grifters which includes McKellen and Carter are pretty unsavory fellows. Their two crimes of note in this film include a scam to defraud some unscrupulous Russkies out of a lot of money and one personal scheme to swindle elderly widows out of their life savings. This time the intended victim will be Betty (Mirren) a sweet woman with a large bank account who falls under the spell of the charming but unscrupulous McKellen.  His cohort Vincent (Carter) poses as a financial advisor and draws up the papers to combine the assets of the victim and the con man.   The fly in the ointment here appears to be her skeptical grandson who will eventually come to the realization that if it makes his grandmother happy then he’s fine with it. These plot devices are apparent early in the film so I’m not giving anything away but let me say that I thought I had it figured out but I was only partially right. It turns out that this is more than a sting operation  featuring senior citizens. Actually their ages are imperative to the plot of the film as you will see. And the twist came as a surprise which is the factor that separates this type of film from a C+ to an A-.  Intriguing and suspenseful with a welcome dearth of gunfire and violence.
A-
WSS

[The Gipper]

Actually, I think the opposite from you.  I think that the ending was contrived.  I did not feel there was any justice served at all with what happened.  I felt it was just  spiteful revenge motive that left me more sympathetic with McKellan's grifter character than the opposite, which was apparently intended.

It was the contrived surprise ending that to me took it from an A- to a C at best.