Liar Liar (1997)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Tom Shadyac

Writers (WGA):

Paul Guay (written by) &
Stephen Mazur (written by)

Release Date:

21 March 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy

Tagline:

Trust Me

Plot:

A fast track lawyer can't lie for 24 hours due to his son's birthday wish after the lawyer turns his son down for the last time.

Plot Keywords:

Wish | Lie | Lawyer | Birthday | Lying

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Jim Carrey	...	Fletcher Reede
Maura Tierney	...	Audrey Reede
Justin Cooper	...	Max Reede
Cary Elwes	...	Jerry
Anne Haney	...	Greta
Jennifer Tilly	...	Samantha Cole
Amanda Donohoe	...	Miranda
Jason Bernard	...	Judge Marshall Stevens
Swoosie Kurtz	...	Dana Appleton
Mitch Ryan	...	Mr. Allan (as Mitchell Ryan)
Christopher Mayer	...	Kenneth Falk (as Chip Mayer)
Eric Pierpoint	...	Richard Cole
Randall 'Tex' Cobb	...	Skull
Cheri Oteri	...	Jane
SW Fisher	...	Pete

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sex related humor and language.

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:14A (Ontario) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #35145) | USA:TV-PG (cut version) | Philippines:PG-13 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Canada:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:7 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | Spain:7 | Sweden:7 | UK:12 | Singapore:PG | Brazil:Livre

Filming Locations:

City Hall - 200 N. Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Imagine Entertainment

Trivia:

Jim Carrey declined the role of Dr. Evil in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) so he could be committed to this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Fletcher is in court he is wearing light-brown shoes. After winning the case, he is held in contempt by the judge and thrown in jail. After Greta bails him out, he rushes to the airport and steals aircraft stairs. After chasing the plane, he finally throws one of his shoes at the pilot's cabin. The shoe is red.

Quotes:

Driver: What's your problem, Schmuck!
Fletcher: I'm an inconsiderate prick!

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Family Guy: No Chris Left Behind (#5.16)" (2007)

Jim Carrey is back in yet another great comedy, although it doesn't quite live up to the spectacular Dumb & Dumber.

Liar Liar is about a boy who, after being stood up by his big-shot lawyer father one too many times, wishes that for just one day his dad couldn't lie. This wreaks havoc on his personal life and even more on his professional life as a lawyer who makes a living putting criminals back on the streets.

Carrey is immediately and constantly hilarious in his role as the unwillfully honest Fletcher Reede. Every scene is full of awkwardly straightforward behavior and dialogue ("Whatever takes the focus off your head!) that is funny because it is so unusual and unexpected. Maura Tierney delivers one of the best performances of her career (second only to her wonderful job in Primal Fear), but Cary Elwes plays a disappointing turn from his amazing job in The Princess Bride. Seeing him as the endlessly charming Wesley in that film and then seeing him as a squirrely step-father type in Liar Liar just didn't seem to fit, but the film was able to overcome such small problems and present itself as a good and entertaining comedy.

In addition to the good comedy that Liar Liar presented, there were strange comedic scenes that Carrey had never done before. For example, I have never seen him portray a descent into madness as was shown with the blue pen, and it should be noted how well this funny man played the part of a man trying very hard not to be funny, with hilarious results. This is a bit like his role in Man on the Moon where he was a comedian playing a comedian who was often deliberately not funny, and the results there were hilarious as well. Jim Carrey's great comedy acting skills were a crucial element of this film, but they are not the only redeeming value of the movie itself. The story is solid and legitimate as well, and it is well-presented and directed, resulting in a good, fun comedy.