THE GOOD LIAR - Book of the film

Nicholas Searle’s debut novel The Good Liar was published in 2016 and the film was released three years later.

The story concerns Roy, a conman, and Betty, a widow; both are in their eighties but reasonably fit for their age, though Roy is plagued by a ‘difficult leg’. They meet for the first time through an online dating connection. And they seem to get on well. The protagonists are played by two consummate actors, Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren, who effortlessly inhabit their personas. Roy comes across as a particularly unpleasant man in both book and film.

The book’s story is told in the present tense and in the third person past historic, and jumps around quite a bit – the present (probably 2009), 1998, 1973, 1963, 1957, 1946, and 1938.  The ‘present’ is a bit woolly in the book but since certain characters were youngsters in 1938, the ‘present’ must be around the 2009 date to realistically fit.

After a couple of dinner dates, Betty takes pity on Roy and asks him to stay at her home – with the proviso their relationship would be for companionship only. He is willing to accept her kind offer. The majority of the flashbacks relate to Roy and the various predicaments he found himself in: impersonating a man accidentally killed in Norfolk, conning widows out of their savings. It is soon obvious that he has designs on Betty’s nest-egg. The only fly in the ointment is her grandson who appears over-protective.

Searle commits the modern cardinal sin of head-jumping from Roy’s thoughts to Betty’s in the same scene. Yet in this instance it works, emphasizing not only a battle of wills but imbuing the tale with mystery about Betty’s motivation.

The gradual twists and revelations are served up towards the end.

This is one of those rare occasions where the screenplay improves on the book. In the book, the fate of Roy is a rather prosaic damp squib, yet in the film it is far more brutal and, dare one say, satisfying. In the book some events are considered but not carried through; in the film these events are enacted and enhance the drama. The book deals with the horror of the Nazi concentration camps, where the film barely touches upon this. The screenplay is by Jeffrey Hatcher.

A worthwhile psychological thriller that maintains its grip on the reader to the end.

It does not matter if you see the film before or after reading the book: the book provides more telling background regarding Roy, while the film is a gripping experience in its own right thanks to the lead actress and actor.