The Good Liar

Bill Condon's thriller has been described as a game of cat and mouse, but "labyrinth" might be a better description. Each reveal doesn't build upon clues but rather diverts into an entirely different direction. You can see something coming, but it's definitely not the twist. To some degree, The Good Liar is a mystery, with the audience trying to guess what Roy has up his sleeve and hoping that naive, trusting Betty has something up hers, too. But a mystery is like a game show: The audience plays along at home. And if Pat Sajak suddenly told you that "B-RD" was actually "CAROUSEL," you'd be up in arms and might never watch his show again.

To that end, this film really is about how life is a "wheel of fortune," showing how one selfish, bad act can change the course of many lives. But buried among the reveals are a myriad of other stories worth telling, which could be movies on their own merits. In fact, Roy and Betty go see Inglorious Basterds, and viewers see an extremely violent moment from that film: Hitler getting destroyed by machine guns. But why? Perhaps to set the tone for the gory violence that's on the way (which also begs the question, why?). There's no doubt that The Good Liar is primed for Boomers and their parents -- there's really not much for kids here -- but who signs up to see two of cinema's icons match wits and also wants to see someone's face get horrendously blown off? The battle of maneuvers is intriguing and leaves the audience with a temporary moment of satisfaction, but as they watch the credits and rethink the plot, the words on their mind will likely be "but why...?"