Liar Liar
Chad'z rating: *** (out of 4 = good)
1997, PG-13, 86 minutes [1 hour, 26 minutes]
[comedy]
starring: Jim Carrey (Fletcher Reede), Maura Tierney (Audrey Reede), Justin Cooper (Max Reede), Jennifer Tilly (Samantha Cole); written by Paul Guay, Stephen Mazur; produced by Brian Grazer; directed by Tom Shadyac.
seen Sunday, October 12, 1997 at 9:10 p.m. at Cine 10 (Northway Mall, Albany, N.Y.) with my brother John for $2.99
There's no denying the fact Jim Carrey's movies are aimed at the most massive of audiences to make millions of dollars. Sometimes they are actually good and funny, while others are stupid and ridiculous. "Liar Liar" is a film that will test each viewer's loyalty to Carrey, as the humor is mostly derived from his wild antics. I'm not a huge Carrey fan, but his performance was funny enough to make the movie work for me.
As with most of Shadyac's films, this one opens with a sit-com-esque atmosphere as we are introduced to Fletcher Reede (Carrey), a greedy lawyer who can't help but constantly lie. He dodges phone calls from his mother, he comes up with elaborate stories to convince his clients he's going to win their case, and he kisses up to everyone all the time. Carrey is very happy-go-lucky here, making Fletcher out to be a caricature if you ever saw one. He spits out the wisecracks and one-liners like a machine gun, but they're funny and there's nothing wrong with that.
It's not surprising Fletcher has an ex-wife (Tierney as Audrey) and has a kid (Cooper as Max) who he loves but never has time to be with. It's Max's fifth birthday and what else could a cute little kid in a movie like this want more for his birthday than for his dad to stop lying? Max wishes for his dad to stop lying for one day and his wish comes true.
The hook to the comedy starts off slowly, but within 15 minutes we find Carrey doing his usual slapstick routine. It's funny how the situation here is so prone to slapstick, but it works because Carrey is such a master at it. There's a scene in which he must fight with his own hand over a pen, which is pretty stupid in premise, but funny to watch at the time.
In fact, I'll have to admit a lot of what goes on here is pretty absurd as a whole, but the actual breakdown is not. This film is a Jim Carrey comedy machine, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. Carrey puts his all into every scene, so even if he's beating himself up (literally), or acting like a lunatic in court, or insulting people to their face it's funny mostly due to his delivery.
There isn't much else to say about "Liar Liar" because there isn't much to it. The screenplay might be a little weak (the ending is bit much), but the jokes usually connect giving the comedy a high batting average. The film is about silliness and what makes it work is that it realizes this and doesn't apologize for it.
e-mail: ChadPolenz@aol.com (C) 1997 Chad Polenz
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