Jim Carrey as the man who "can't handle the lie" ...

Rating: 8/10 (17 January 2013)

Ever since societies existed, lies could either be the drivers or killers of human relationships, but I guess we have to blame it on truth. The trick with the truth is that sometimes we want to tell it but not to hear it, or vice versa. Do we really want to know what is said about us at the third person? Truth is a social double-edged sword, and lying a psychic boomerang, hitting you in the face when you don't expect it.
This is why the main premise of a film like "Liar, Liar" where a man endures the curse of not lying, worse: not being able to articulate one lousy syllabic that wouldn't tell the truth is not only hilarious, but intellectually challenging, as it incites us to question the place 'lying', occupies in our lives and daily agendas... and occasionally on America's judiciary system. Indeed, maybe the fact that the story focuses on a slick lawyer in Los Angeles, a sort of Lionel Hutz in flesh and blood and competence, asks a bit too much on the suspension of disbelief department, still what a premise, the kind that probably started with a simple "what if" question and one wondered how no one ever got this idea before.
It seems so clever, yet so simple, but it's not a laugh-riot guarantee either, my guess is that it's the kind of plot premises that can only work if you have the comical performance to efficiently conduct it from paper to screens. Think about that, "a man can't lie", so what, what is funny? The fact that he can't lie can easily become redundant; it's all in the diversity of reactions then. And who's better than Jim Carrey to takes you by surprises even when you expect to laugh? Only Carrey could have been so hilariously, pathetically, frantically funny in his desperate attempts to let one single lie comes out of his mouth, especially the day of a very tough divorce and child custody trial.
Jim Carrey delivers his funniest performance, and certainly one of the funniest of the 90's, Adam Sandler? Chris Farley? "Liar, Liar" is the ultimate proof that Carrey is the real thing when it comes to comedy. Carrey's face is a gift from Cinematic Gods, hell, you don't even need CGI, it's like every parcel of his face is capable of displaying more hilarious elasticity than all the comics of his generation combined in all of their films. "Liar, Liar" is 80 minutes of demonstration, of Carrey's talent and comical superiority. Naturally, it's not just all about grimaces, funny faces or scream, like the best comedies, "Liar, Liar" has a heart and maintains an overwhelming everyday feeling, we're enjoying Carrey's talent, but still, we think of our own lives or lies.
Marking the return of Jim Carrey after the film 'that almost ruined his career' according to Homer Simpson, "Liar, Liar" is the second collaboration with Tom Shadyak after "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" in 1994, the breakthrough year where he starred in 3 movies from the Box- office Top 10. He made it again with "Liar, Liar", for all the zaniness, Jim Carrey played a more mature, and identifiable character through Fletcher Reed, half liar, half lawyer (a clever opening joke probably lost in translation in all the foreign versions). While it does flirt a little bit with the too-busy-to-see-his-son father cliché, it avoids it by focusing on lying, this is Fletcher's problem, he can't see his child because he just built his whole life, professional, social and familial, on lying.
And when the kid gets one lie too much, he blows the candle of his birthday cake and makes the wish that his father can't lie during 24 hours, the curse applies immediately with the hilarious sex aftermath comment followed by the unforgettable drool-inducing elevator scene. Indeed, this scene speaks for all the men who tried to maintain eye-control in front of a nice pair of juicy  well, that's our mind whispering to us, and Fletcher's nightmare is that it's his mind controlling his words. And while transposing his case to my personal life, I wondered to what extent my life would have been different if I had one day without lying. I even shudder thinking to the eventuality of my wife asking me some questions about my past. Of course, it's just a film, but still.
So, as soon as the curse operates, the movie takes off for a magnificent, flamboyant bravura performance from Jim Carrey, one gag after another, making the little archetypes, from the cute Justin Cooper with the worst haircut ever to Maura Tierney, the comprehensive divorced wife who still has feelings toward her ex-husband and the dull and boring replacer, Cary Elwes doing well in a rather ungrateful role, not to mention the scene-stealing Jennifer Tilly as the slutty ambitious unfaithful wife, they all become insignificant, because it's Carrey's film. And Carrey carries it with the power of his face, and a terrific script, one that visits every kind of situation where the 'to lie or not to lie' dilemma plays a pivotal role, even one that allows Fletcher to relieve himself by roasting everyone during an unforgettable board meeting, literally the film's laugh-out-loudest moment.
And we catch our breath during some genuine moments of true father- and-son tenderness showcasing an unknown capability for seriousness, something the previous movies didn't show. And "Liar, Liar" probably played a vital and pivotal role in Carrey's career, proving he was at ease with slapstick humor (damn, I can't get the face he had with the luggage thing stuck in his face) and emotions too, a versatility that would be confirmed in "The Truman Show" one year later.
And "Liar, Liar" concludes with a nice moral, if you build your life on lies, it might collapse sooner or later, if did for Fletcher, but the essential remained, and he would finally value it.