Year Released: 2019
Directed by: Bill Condon
Starring: Helen Mirren, Ian McKellan
(R, 109 min.)
Genre: Drama, Mystery and Suspense

“One may smile and smile and be a villain.” – Hamlet, William Shakespeare

It’s witty and sophisticated, with light touches that lure us in. But’s its more like tragedy’s comic relief, which these Shakespearean trained leads wield with terrible ferocity when we least expect it.

In that sense the previews and film summaries also underplay the iron fist inside the velvet gloves:

Career con man Roy (Ian McKellen) sets his sights on his latest mark: recently widowed Betty (Helen Mirren), worth millions. And he means to take it all. But as the two draw closer, what should have been another simple swindle takes on the ultimate stakes. Legendary actors Mirren and McKellen star together on screen for the first time in this suspenseful drama about the secrets people keep and the lies they live.

After the dark but impressive Joker and the real life deadly Battle of Midway, Different Drummer went to The Good Liar looking for a little sunshine. And yes, there is plenty of light banter between the recent widow, Betsy McLeish (Helen Mirren) and her new online date Roy Courtnay (Ian McKellan). They appear a little like awkward teens at their first date, even shyly admitting that not all they said online was true, both even confessing to giving themselves more “hip” false names.

The observing viewer is already in on the joke, though, as we see Betsy check the box for non-drinker, a glass of wine by her side. And Roy has fibbed about his smoking habit as well.

The next few scenes, however, establish that Roy is more than a benign con man – maybe there are no such things – but a rather ruthless swindler who seems to thrive on deception and the big bucks its supplies, no matter the cost

Film critic Owen Gleiberman captures their personas artfully:

Betty McLeish is a widow in her 70s who lives in a home full of tasteful pastel furniture in a calmly boring suburb of London. She’s sweet, pretty, pert, and polite, with glowing skin framed by an impeccable gray-white coif; if Doris Day had been a conventional middle-class Englishwoman, she might have looked and acted like this.

Roy is like the talented Mr. Ripley as a cutthroat octogenarian — a man who has buried all feeling, but it comes gushing up anyway. And she plays Betty as a woman who’s all heart-on-the-sleeve trust, which turns out to be her own devious form of leverage. –Owen Gleiberman

The light tone of the early scenes soon curdles, and as we watch Betsy so easily fall for Roy’s traps – his fake knee injury and her easy invitation to stay in her guestroom rather than climb the three stories to his flat – but then learn that she is a retired history don from Oxford. We wonder if she can be that naïve.

So we are not too surprised that she, too, is not all she seems. And with the darker tones now introduced, we see something not unlike a classic David Mamet vehicle.

And of course, the film’s marketing also alludes to Hitchcock, with at least one least one critic comparing the ingratiating Roy to Hitchcock’s deceptively charming Uncle Charlie played so adroitly by Joseph Cotton in Shadow of a Doubt.

Sure, Hitchcock might have had deceptive characters or plots, but he didn’t trifle with the tone. Right off the bat, our hackles go up when we meet Joseph Cotton’s Uncle Charlie. We are not so fooled by his charm as is his namesake niece.

Unfortunately, not so with The Good Liar.

It would be unfair to label The Good Liar a dark comedy. It is more like an insecure woman in a dressing room, trying on wildly different garments. Yet they are more like the borrowed robes figuratively worn by Shakespeare’s Macbeth. None really seem to fit, and the audience grows a little breathless trying to keep up with it all.

Or to use another figure of speech, the first scenes flow like a light romantic comedy spun out in the 80s with Meg Ryan or Hugh Grant, a bubbly champagne or maybe a light sherry that goes down easy. Then suddenly it’s a hearty red, then a dark, edgy port; finally an aged brandy, and we begin looking for a Borgia lurking in the shadows ready to tip in a few extra ingredients from his jeweled poison ring.

The twists and turns come so swiftly near the finish, a few of them stretching credibility, that we almost end up as mutely unresponsive as one unnamed character in the rather brutal finale.

But watching the first pairing of these two iconic British thespians is worth it, even if Hitchcock and even Mamet might not quite approve.

–Kathy Borich
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Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

This film is ostensibly an English one, starring two legendary movie icons, both knighted by the queen, Sir Ian McKellan and Dame Helen Mirren.

There is a subplot that takes place in Berlin, and several characters have a Russian connection.

So why is Different Drummer dishing up a Polish Hunter’s Stew? Let me put it this way, if I tell, I might have to kill you, or even worse, give away some plot twists, which is verboten for film critics, who resist spoilers like the plague.

Let’s just say that this Hitchcock type danse macabre is peopled with both hunters and prey, and you never quite know which is which.

Interestingly enough, the original Polish Hunter’s Stew was made with wild game, and although both leads speak with plumy accents and appear ever so civilized, they are certainly not the domesticated creatures we might assume.

So enjoy this rich and hearty stew and feel free to substitute what meat you have on hand.

Maybe even leftover turkey as part of the meat triad.

Enjoy with a champagne toast, but do not let down your guard. Shakespeare has warned us “That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.”

Polish Hunter’s Stew

"This meaty stew is usually made with wild game such as venison or boar, but you can use beef, pork, or other meat--just use a lot. It's perfect for feeding a crowd, especially when the weather turns cold and dreary." – Chef John

Ingredients

1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms

1/2 cup warm water

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups packed, drained sauerkraut (not rinsed)

1 small head green cabbage, quartered and sliced

4 strips bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 pound pork shoulder, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

1 pound boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 pound Polish sausage links, sliced (or any other sausage)

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

3 pitted prunes, diced

1 cup dry red wine

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1 large bay leaf

freshly ground black pepper

salt to taste

Directions

Place mushrooms in warm water to soak and soften, 10 or 15 minutes. Drain and chop.

Heat butter in a heavy pot or Dutch oven; add sauerkraut and sliced cabbage. Cook over medium-low, stirring occasionally. Brown the meat and add it to pot while sauerkraut is cooking per directions below.

Heat skillet over medium-high heat; add bacon and cook until browned but not crisp. Transfer bacon to pot with cabbage, leaving bacon grease in skillet.

Brown pork shoulder pieces in bacon grease over medium-high heat. Sprinkle with salt. Cook and stir until browned on all sides, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer pork to pot. Add beef chunks to skillet; sprinkle with salt. Cook and stir until browned, about 4 or 5 minutes. Add sausage slices to skillet and cook and stir until browned. Transfer slices to pot.

Reduce heat under skillet to medium. Add chopped onion and a sprinkle of salt; cook and stir until onion turns translucent and starts to take on some color. Stir in chopped mushrooms and diced prunes. Cook and stir about 2 minutes. Pour in dry red wine; raise heat to medium-high. Simmer until wine is reduced to where very little liquid remains. Transfer onion mixture to pot with cabbage and meat. Add paprika, caraway seeds, thyme, allspice, bay leaf, pepper, and salt. Stir to evenly distribute all ingredients.

Cover tightly; simmer over medium-low heat until meat is tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Allow stew to cool slightly; refrigerate overnight to let flavors blend.

Place pot over low to medium-low heat and add a splash of water. Bring stew to low simmer, stirring occasionally, and cook until hot, 10 to 15 minutes.

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