LIAR LIAR (1997) A movie review by Serdar Yegulalp (C) 1997 by Serdar Yegulalp
CAPSULE: Side-splitting comedy that follows its own merciless logic almost through to the end... but not without providing a good deal of genuine laughs.
Most comedies these days have one flaw. They're not funny. They think they're funny, but they are devoid of anything really penetrating or dastardly. Occasionally a good funny movie sneaks past the deadening Hollywood preconceptions of humor and we get a real gem: RUTHLESS PEOPLE, for instance, which established a microcosm of a setup and played it out to the bitter end.
LIAR LIAR is built the same way and is just about as funny. This is one of the few movies I've seen where I was laughing consistently almost all the way through: instead of a couple of set-pieces that inspired a laugh (think of the dismal FATAL INSTINCT), the whole movie works like clockwork.
Jim Carrey playes a high-powered lawyer, to whom lying is as natural as breathing. There is one thing he takes seriously, though: his son, and we can sense the affection that they have for each other right away. But his wife is divorced and seeing another man, and now it looks like they may move away together. The son goes with them, of course.
The movie sets up this early material with good timing and a remarkable balance of Jim Carrey's over-the-top persona with reality. Then the plot springs into action: after being snubbed (not deliberately) by his father at his birthday, the kid makes a wish as he blows out the birthday candles: that for just one day, Dad can't lie. He gets the wish.
What happens next is sidesplitting. Everything turns into a confrontation: when cornered by a bum for some change, he shouts, "No! I'm not giving you any money because I know you'll spend it on booze! All I want to do is to get to the office without having to step over the debris of our decaying society!" He can't even get into an elevator without earning a black eye. And what's worse, he's now gotten himself into an expensive divorce settlement that requires him to twist the truth like abstract wire sculpture.
Carrey, who I used to find unfunny, has gotten better at his schtick, even if it's a limited one. He uses it to great effect in this movie. There is a scene where he tries to test his ability to lie and nearly demolishes his office in the process (there's a grin breaking out across my face right now, just remembering the scene). He can't even WRITE the lie; his fingers twitch, his body buckles like someone in the throes of cyanide poisoning, and when he tries to talk it's like he's speaking in tongues. Equally funny is a scene where he beats himself to a pulp (don't ask why), tries to drink water to keep from having outbursts in the courtroom (it fails, with semi-predictable results), and winds up biting the bullet when he gets called into the boardroom to have everyone ask what they think of them. This scene alone may force people to stop the tape for minutes on end.
The movie sustains its laughs and also its flashes of insight until almost the end. A shame, too, because the movie insists on having a big, ridiculous climax that involves Carrey's character flagging down a plane using a set of motorized stairs, then breaking his leg, etc. A simple reconciliation would do the trick. Why is this stupid pent-up climax always obligatory? It's not even part of the movie's real agenda. Thankfully, LIAR LIAR survives it, and so does Carrey. Maybe they were being merciful, on reflection. If I'd laughed any more, I might have needed an iron lung.
Three and a half out of four... STARS! Because stars are so much less pretentious than those other rating system gimmicks!
syegul@ix.netcom.com EFNet IRC: GinRei http://www.io.com/~syegul another worldly device... you can crush me as I speak/write on rocks what you feel/now feel this truth =smilin' in your face, all the time wanna take your place, the BACKSTABBERS=
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