Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Monday 18 noveMber 2019
‘The Good Liar’ pairs Mirren and McKellen

By JAKE COYLE match made in heaven. to Betty and robbing her
Associated Press And yet “The Good Liar,” a of her small fortune, one
For a blind date, we could modest middlebrow thriller, amassed from a career as
hardly do better than Helen never lives up to the sheer a history professor at Ox-
Mirren and Ian McKellen. pleasure of seeing its two ford. She lives outside Lon-
They are brought swiftly to- leads together, for the first don, and Roy’s quick inser-
gether by a computer dat- time as co-stars. Directed tion into her life (he feigns a
ing service in the opening by Bill Condon (“Kinsey,” bad limp to score a bed in
minutes of “The Good Liar.” “Beauty and the Beast,” her guest room) raises the
Both click “widowed.” “Dreamgirls”) and adapt- suspicions of Betty’s grand-
When they cautiously sit ed from Nicholas Searle’s son, Steven (Russell Tovey).
down in a quiet London 2016 novel, “The Good For one, we can see a ma-
restaurant, and Mirren be- Liar” has the polish that you jor turn coming all along in
gins sipping a martini, it’s would expect from all in- the script by Jeffrey Hatch-
hard not think they’re a volved, but little of the spar- er (who previously teamed
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Ian McKellen, with Condon and McKellen
left, and Helen Mirren in a scene from "The Good Liar." for “Mr. Holmes”). Mirren is
Associated Press far too cunning an actress
kle. Immediately, there’s exaggerations and distor- to simply play a suckered
a play between truth and tions commonly found on old lady in the suburbs. We
deceit. When Roy Court- Tinder pages. “The Good know it’s just a matter of
nay (McKellen) is filling out Liar” delves into deeper time until her intelligence
his dating profile, he se- falsehoods of identity and and ferocity reveal itself.
lects “non-smoker” while a history, teasing out a twisty In the meantime, there are
cigarette smolders nearby. narrative that winds its way a few things to chew on,
Right after their meeting, back to World War II. It as- mainly the stirring score
Roy — once out of eyeshot pires to the psychological by the great Carter Bur-
from Mirren’s Betty McLeish intrigue of Patricia High- well (“Carol,” “No Country
— quickly sheds his kindly smith or John Le Carre with- for Old Men”) and the un-
old gentleman persona out ever summoning such deniable talents of Mirren
and skips into a nightclub a thick air of mystery and and McKellen, who stitch
to hash out a scheme with danger. the film together through
his co-conspirators over Roy is a conman. He’s got subtle, skillful glances and
champagne. a few hustles going on, gestures. They’re artists at
What unfolds goes consid- but his focus is drawn in- play, clearly enjoying each
erably further than the small creasingly to getting close other’s company. q

Black Eyed Peas star accuses

Qantas attendant of racism

allegation that the inci-
dent had anything to do
with race and said it was
a “misunderstanding.”
"There was a misunder-
standing on board, which
seems to have been ex-
acerbated by will.i.am
wearing noise cancelling
headphones and not be-
ing able to hear instruc-
tions from crew," the air-
line said in a statement.
In this Sept. 23, 2017 file photo, will.i.am attends the 27th "We'll be following up with
annual EMA Awards at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. will.i.am and wish him well
Associated Press for the rest of the tour." He
Associated Press was upset with him be- and the Black Eyed Peas
SYDNEY (AP) — Black Eyed cause he couldn’t hear are in Australia to perform
Peas musician will.i.am her through his noise-can- as part of a world tour.
has accused a flight at- celling headphones. In other tweets, will.i.am
tendant from Australia’s He tweeted a photo of said he wasn’t the only
national carrier Qantas of a police officer and said: person on the flight to be
being racist and rude to “This is how your greeted “disrespected.” He did,
him on a flight. when you land from Bris- however, get criticized
The musician said he was bane to Sydney flying @ by some who felt it was
met by police at Sydney qantas with a #Racist- inappropriate for him to
Airport on Saturday af- Flightattendant.” He then publicly name the flight
ter an incident with an named the flight atten- attendant on his Twitter
“overly aggressive flight dant. Qantas said in a account, which has 12.8
attendant” who he says statement it rejected the million followers.q