Jim at his best

Rating: Null/10 (27 June 1999)

Liar Liar may not be a new movie, but it's definitely one of those comically genius films that you just can't pass up. So, I want to review this movie for anyone who may have overlooked this flick when it first came out. If you did, you missed a real treat.
Tom Shadyac whom you may remember from movies like Patch Adams, The Nutty Professor, and Ace Ventura directed this comedy. You know this guy has had some experience in comedies. He directed the movie that gave Jim Carrey his big break as the notorious Ace Ventura. The main characters are Fletcher (Jim Carrey), Max (Justin Cooper), and Audrey (Maura Tierney). They all have impressive acting talent that is displayed brilliantly throughout this film.
The plot goes something like this: Jim Carrey plays the part of Fletcher, a lawyer and failing father who deals with the recent divorce of Audrey, played by Maura Tierney. Fletcher gets the biggest case of his career, but his son Max makes a wish on his birthday that his dad couldn't tell a lie for a whole day. It comes true of course. Well, that turns Fletcher's world upside down, as you can imagine, because he is a scumbag lawyer who makes a living at lying. The whole movie takes over a period of just two or three days of him dealing with the fact that he can't lie.
The storyline is totally original and well thought out. I 'busted a gut' laughing, and this movie didn't give me very many breaks in between bursts of tear jerking laughter. Jim Carrey was the absolute best actor for the part as the untruthful lawyer. I don't see how anyone else could physically match Jim Carrey's comically genius body language. It all seems to come naturally to him. He probably acts like that in real everyday life. This would have to be one of, if not the best, Jim Carrey Movie.
That's enough about Carrey. Justin Cooper is a young kid who does a surprisingly good job of playing the cute little five-year-old son. You kind of feel sorry for the little guy when his dad stands him up on his birthday when he "promised" to be there. Maura Tierney's character (Audrey) is very natural. She can make you feel that she is a real person compared to her totally opposite and whacked ex-husband. Audrey's dorky boyfriend does a good job at being, well, a dork. By the time you are introduced to this character you really start to hate him, but that's what the director wants you to do. The screenplay and sound are very well done and extremely comical. The words slip off Jim Carrey's lips as easily as anything. The way he carries himself throughout the film makes you wonder if he wasn't some kind of monkey in a past life. I can't tell you how many times he falls over in this movie! He'll have you saying catchy lines like "It was me!" and "That's just something ugly people say". Or maybe you would like this line: "Here goes, I sped, I followed too closely, I ran a stop sign, I almost hit a Chevy, I sped some more, I failed to yield at a crosswalk, I changed lanes at a crosswalk, I changed lanes without signaling, while running a red light and speeding!" or maybe not.
There are many great scenes in this movie so it's hard to pick a favorite. I would have to say that my absolute 'fave' would have to be the witty scene where he tries to lie and say that the pen is red when it is actually blue. I can't describe in words how funny that scene was but just the way that he screams "The pen isBluuuee!!" is just hilarious. There are practically no special effects in Liar Liar but there are many outrageous stunts performed in Jim Carrey's place. I was surprised at all the stunt doubles I saw in the titles at the end of the movie.
I really liked this movie a lot and it will be on my classic comedy list from now on. The only faulty part of the movie is the bad or crass language used in various parts of the flick. It's not over the edge with cursing in every other sentence but it does bother me a bit.
This movie even has a strong moral to it. Lying to just get yourself ahead in life hurts others and will eventually catch up and hurt you. In one scene Fletcher is practicing the witness interview with his client and the client says something like, Oh, all we have to do is lie, that's easy. Then he realizes that what they are doing is wrong, and he can't ask the question if he knows it's a lie. Throughout the movie Fletcher learns a major lesson in dealing with life, and goes through a major morality change. I really liked how the movie sticks that moral issue in and makes you think. 'Cuz' a little white lie is the same as a big whoper if you think about it.
If you can get over the language and get to the core of this awesome movie I think you would love it, except for you strange few who don't like Jim Carrey. (You know who you are!) Maybe you should give him another try, I promise you will enjoy yourself.