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Critic Reviews
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The two main performances, on which the entire series rests, are both astonishing: Joanne Froggatt, so solid in Downton Abbey, is captivatingly fragile, swaying from likable to unstable in a matter of moments. And we’re so used to seeing Ioan Gruffudd as the romantic hero, it’s fascinating to see him offer such a multi-faceted performance, effortlessly shifting between the light and the dark.
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Liar piles telenovela traits across six, pulpy logic-defying hours. What's left feel like less than the premise deserves: loopy melodrama classed up with British accents and high production values. [29 Sep, 2017, p.54]
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Liar is a tangle of trigger alerts, filled with “Fatal Attraction”-ish moments of doubt and debate in a claustrophobically small community of subplots. I skipped ahead to make sure the ending is worth the effort, and for the most part, it is.
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Liar is a cut below “Broadchurch” in both its storytelling and its overall level of performance, but there’s one good reason to stick with it: Ms. Froggatt, who is resolutely believable and committed regardless of where the increasingly looney-tunes plot takes Laura.
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It proceeds to full thriller mode, and an engaging kind it is in its over-familiar way, no small thanks to saving infusions of soap opera.
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The twists escalate into a feverish peak of outrageous melodrama, making Fatal Attraction look mellow. Even so, it's enjoyable to the end, setting up a second season I'm even more eager to see. [2-15 Oct 2017, p.15]
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Both Froggatt and Gruffudd prove equally matched, with Gruffudd’s blend of charm and confusion essential to selling the ambiguous nature of the premise. ... But when the big twists come--and oh, they do come--neither actor is able to escape the material, particularly the dense confessional monologues that completely contradict the grounded nature of earlier episodes.
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About four hours into this six-episode series I just wanted to know how it all turned out so that I could be free of these mostly-unpleasant people. That I stayed to the end is a measure of the Williams brothers’ skill as plot-creators, I guess, but it’s also not a huge recommendation.
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The truth is, Liar is rich with potential but low on results.
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Neither consistently responsible nor transportingly engrossing, Liar ends up undermining its admirable aims with a series of preposterous twists and characterizations. Flailing crusades like Laura's are seldom so intensely felt--or so groan-inducingly disappointing.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 7 out of 16
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Mixed: 6 out of 16
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Negative: 3 out of 16
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Oct 10, 2017
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Sep 29, 2017
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Oct 23, 2017