LIAR LIAR
A film review by Cameron Shelley
Copyright 1997 Cameron Shelley
(Universal)
Review URL:
http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~cpshelle/Reviews/liar.html
Cast:
Jim Carrey (Fletcher Reede), Maura Tierney (Audrey
Reede), Justin Cooper (Max Reede), Cary Elwes
(Jerry), Ann Haney (Greta), Jennifer Tilley
(Samantha Cole)
Screenplay:
Paul Guay and Stephen Mazur
Director:
Tom Shadyac
Producer:
Michael Bostick, James Brubaker, and Brian Grazer
Better late than never, right? It was with some misgivings that I went to see Liar Liar. Physical comedy and "low" humor make good entertainment when done right, but I don't have a strong wish to sit through 90 minutes of fart jokes and pointless slapstick, nor do I need to pay to see people simply acting like idiots. Jim Carrey's recent offerings (and let's face it: movies with Jim Carrey starring are "Jim Carrey" movies, not "action-adventure films", "chick flicks", or "courtroom dramas") have been less than inspiring in that regard. But, I confess, my misgivings were misplaced - Liar Liar was worth the trip.
In LL, Jim Carrey plays a lawyer, Fletcher Reede. Of course, lawyers are an easy target for humor, beginning with the fact that the words "lawyer" and "liar" are so similar phonetically. This little pun is exploited right off the top of the movie - not a good sign. But LL manages to steer clear of the easy and resentful humor usually directed at this target. Fletcher is simply a guy whose success has gone to his head, to the extent that he has lost the love of a good woman and is now losing the affections of his son through inattention. The fact that Fletcher is a lawyer isn't particularly important in this respect, although it certainly provides an excellent means for throwing his flaw into sharp relief. So, LL ends up as a mixture of two types of story: (1) a romantic comedy in which Fletcher is in danger of permanently losing the love of Audrey (his ex) and Max (his son), and (2) a slapstick in which Fletcher is in danger of losing his chance at a partnership in his law firm due to a comic and, for a lawyer, devastating flaw, namely an inability to lie.
The first story is rather flat but, fortunately, mostly serves to set up the second. Specifically, little Max, after being disappointed by yet another broken promise from his father (to attend his fifth birthday party), makes a wish that his father would be unable to lie for just 24 hours. Well, as the candles are blown out, a mystic wind brushes through the curtains and makes the wish come true - and at about the worst possible moment for Fletcher who is planning on running some whoppers up the flagpole in court the next day. Frankly, the results could hardly be described in words. Fletcher is robbed completely of the ability to tell even the smallest lie and begins, literally, to wrestle with the truth.
Carrey's unique and bizarre antics, expressions, and delivery go to good use here. Instead of merely flailing away like an imbecile, Carrey appears to be possessed by a demon bent on destroying him in the most painfully funny way possible. Each social, sexual, and professional (but truthful) faux pas results in the appropriate contortion, slap in the face, or fall to the floor. These fits appear so real that Carrey can sell things like beating himself up with a toilet and getting the laugh. There is, of course, lots of parody of the office and courtroom settings, which generally works well enough. But the movie also has a few moments of high comedy - particularly a battle Fletcher picks with a blue pen. In his desperation to lie, Fletcher picks a blue pen up from his desk and tries to say "This pen is red." (I was hoping for "This statement is false," but that would be for a different movie.) He cannot, although he nearly ties himself in a knot trying to do it. In a shot that would make Peter Sellers proud, the pen then takes control of Fletcher's hand and, perhaps resenting his attempt to misdescribe it, returns the favor. Fletcher loses the struggle and emerges with the truth written all over his face, in blue ink: "This pen is BLUE."
Regrettably, but inevitably, the slapstick story starts to run out and the romantic comedy begins to take over. In the last twenty minutes or so, the two plots seem to struggle for control. Fletcher wins his court case, in spite of the truth, on a technicality. But he now realizes that justice has hardly been served. Having been made to face the truth that he's "an inconsiderate prick," Fletcher gets himself fired, and ends up in jail while speeding to stop Audrey from flying away to Boston with Jerry and Max. Serious stuff. But after being bailed out, Fletcher impersonates a piece of luggage and chases down Audrey's plane on the runway using a mobile stairway gantry. In the final scene, Fletcher and Audrey get back together. It wouldn't do to complain too much about the unremarkable, romantic part of the story despite its occasional intrusiveness, since it serves to make Fletcher a sympathetic character. Otherwise, he'd probably just seem to be pitiably insane.
Each story comes with a moral. First, people need to lie. LL displays this point in an apt comic style, without preaching. Second, self-deceit can make good things look bad, and vice versa. The "vice versa" comes from Audrey, who convinces herself that flying away with the wrong man is the right thing to do. But this theme doesn't merit much scrutiny or screen time. (Playing opposite Jim Carrey must be intimidating. Hopefully Maura Tierney will get a better chance to display her own acting abilities.) In combining its two stories, LL works pretty well because it gives Jim Carrey a chance to do what he does with a sympathetic, rather than an asinine character. Certainly, lies and deceptions are themes that can be revisited many times, if it's done well.
cpshelle@watarts.uwaterloo.ca - Phone: (519) 888-4567 x2555
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