Watching: The Good Liar

The Good Liar stars Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren as Roy and Betty, two people of a certain age who meet via an online dating site. It's clear from the start that Roy isn't what he appears to be at all; instead, he's a conman, involved in a variety of shady schemes and with a sideline in scamming wealthy widows out of their savings, and he's lined Betty up as his next victim, despite the obvious opposition of her only relative, her grandson Stephen.

The thriller plot zips along nicely, and while some of the twists seemed a bit obvious there were certainly some surprises. In any case, the main attraction of the film isn't the plot; it's the opportunity to watch McKellen chewing every piece of scenery in sight and Mirren being a total badass, and it delivers both in spades. It's not the most memorable of films, but it was an entertaining diversion for a soggy November evening in what is proving to be a really tough week.

(Content note, however: there is one scene depicting fairly graphic sexual violence involving a child.)