Liar Liar

I like the film. There is no big story but small messages to lawyers, fathers, priority in our lives, finding hapiness, doing the right thing. Film makes you laugh and meanwhile giving you this small messages with Jim Carrey's extraordinary character. There is no random scenes make you laugh every scene following order to tell you something and this is why i like this movie.

Liar Liar is one solution to the problem of what kind of movie vehicle to write for overacting, rubber man Jim Carrey. Following the success of Ace Ventura, director Tom Shaydac casts Carrey as a divorced lawyer who has no time for his young son. In the film, the word liar is a pun on lawyer, equating the two words since his character is a lying lawyer. Every time he promises to attend one of his son's school events or play with him, Carrey finds some excuse to get out of it. His son makes a birthday wish that just for one day his dad would tell the truth and it happens. Carrey is incapable of lying and when he tries to lie, his face and body go into every contortion imaginable as he tries to suppress the truth. There is a literally "off the wall" scene where he beats himself up in a bathroom. Carrey is a likable guy and carries the movie. Of course, you can't believe for a second that he's a lawyer but belief is not needed in this film. This is a movie with a message that fathers shouldn't ignore their children. For a film aimed at kids, there is a surprising amount of boob and sexual humor. Maura Tierney is very cute as his ex-wife. Amanda Donohoe plays Carrey's seductress law partner and Jennifer Tilly is a buxom, bimbo client. Director Tom Shadyac later worked with Carrey in Bruce Almighty. Liar Liar is for Jim Carrey fans and fathers who ignore their kids.

True the plot is a little corny, my only criticism of the movie, but Jim Carrey's wonderfully energetic and most of the time hilarious performance more than compensates. Liar Liar is easily one of Carrey's better films, I do confess I will need to see a few more of his movies before concluding which one's his best to save bias. What Liar Liar manages to do is have a slightly corny though very interesting idea, and make into a good spirited and absolutely hilarious film. The script almost the whole time verged on hysterically funny, and there are many priceless scenes, especially the courtroom scene- I needed to go to the bathroom to check I hadn't wet myself from laughing so much. The other performances were great, Cary Elwes was excellent, and the boy was very sweet and charming. Overall, a hilarious movie, that does cheer you up considerably after a hard day, I still chuckle even thinking of it. There is so much to recommend this, but at the end of the day, it is Carrey's picture. 9.5/10 Bethany Cox

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.

This was perhaps my favorite Jim Carrey movie. I found it to be hysterically funny, and Carrey was perfect for the role. His son wishes Carrey can only tell the truth for 24 hours, and it comes true. Unfortunately for Jim, it comes just as he is about to embark on the court case of a lifetime. Watching him go through the motions was a treat, and i guarantee you will love it. You will have to see it to understand, because most of it is too difficult to describe with written words, but it was FUNNY!

*** 1/2 out of ****