Customer Reviews

Liar Liar

5 star:		(98)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

What happens when little Max Reede (Justin Cooper) blows out the candles on his birthday cake and wishes his Dad couldn't lie anymore? Fletcher (Jim Carrey) an unscrupulous lawyer (is there any other kind?) happens to be Max's father. When the birthday wish becomes reality things quickly begin to fall apart for poor Fletcher. After all, what good is a lawyer who can't lie? One thing is certain, Fletcher is about to discover how much the truth can both hurt and heal.

First let me say that I'm not generally a Jim Carrey fan. I find his films inane, vapid and predictable. That along with his excessively loud, over-the-town acting style absolutely drives me crazy. With that said, I must now confess that I've found one exception to that rule. That exception is the unrelentingly hilarious 'Liar Liar.'

All the things that drive me insane about Jim Carrey somehow work wonderfully in this film. It also contains a cast of some of my favorites; Maura Tierney as Fletcher's ex-wife Audrey and Cary Elwes as her new love interest Jerry. I also have to mention the very sexy Krista Allen makes a brief but memorable appearance as the 'girl in the elevator.'

This is a stunning comedy starring Jim Carrey who plays a lawyer, who is incapable of telling the truth or keeping his promises (is this really a surprise!!!). Things make a dramatic turn, when he fails to keep a promise to turn up at his son's birthday party: the neglected son (brilliantly played by Justin Cooper as Max Reede) makes a wish for his father not to lie for just one day. The boy's wish is granted and his dad loses his ability to lie, a tragic affliction for any lawyer. He cannot lie in court as well as to all those around him, like his secretary and mother.

This now honest man displays his comic talents that is bound to set you laughing your lungs out. Carrey is ably supported by his ex-wife Audrey (Maura Tierney) who is now dating Cary Elwes, a simpleton of a man.

This is one of Jim Carrey's best films. His facial contortions, voice and crazy humour stands him out as an outstanding comedian. This is as good as it gets. The director, Tom Shadyac should be applauded for this high quality production.

This movie should not be missed by anyone with a sense of humour and all those fathers who neglect their children for the sake of making money.

Jim Carrey puts so much energy and pure comedic brilliance into this movie that we hardly noticed how corny and hackneyed was the plot or how wearily didactic was the moral lesson for all fathers who neglect their children for the goddess of success. And really we didn't care. What we loved almost as much as Carrey's rubber mouth and oral blockage (like an overheated boiler fighting not to explode) was the premise: a lawyer that can't lie. Now there's an oxymoron! As Carrey tries to explain to his son Max, lawyers need to lie. Actually he says grownups need to lie, which is a truth that we really do not need to exam too closely here. To laugh at something deeply troubling in our nature is a way of dealing with it.

So the genius of this movie is first the talent of Jim Carrey, but second, for kids who come to the realization of adult mendacity for the first time, it is the discovery of comedy as a way to cope. Why do adults need to lie? is a question that a kid can never figure out, and then by the time he is an adult himself (or actually a teenager), he can no longer comprehend how important the question once was. Call it innocence lost, or the socialization process.

My favorite part of the movie is the courtroom scene with Jennifer Tilly dressed oh so sluttily and her adulterous beaux looking like a model for the cover of a romance novel and Carrey in tatters in his [expensive] suit. Second would be the bathroom scene in which Carrey tries to tear himself apart (and seems to almost succeed). His flapping mouth between the toilet seat and the bowl was inspired. Give some credit to director Tom Shadyac, who managed to steer the vehicle with Carrey at the controls, and to writers, Paul Guay and Stephen Mazur, who wrote some funny lines.

The great comedians totally let themselves go. They are totally on. They go to extremes and beyond. It's like transcending not just the ordinary, but even the imagined. See this obviously for Jim Carrey, one of the great comedic talents of our time, an original who would have delighted Charlie Chaplin with his extraordinary muggings, his blatant audacity and his superb timing.

Let me start by saying that I absolutely love Jim Carrey. I think he's a very talented actor, and he always gets me rolling with laughter. I think he's holywood's funniest actor since the late Walter Matthau.
Unfourtunately though, some of Carrey's movies have been disappointments (most notably: Cable Guy and Ace Ventura 2). Whether due to lack of a good running storyline, or due to just over-the-top silliness.
'Liar, Liar', however, does not disappoint. It reveals Carrey in all his hillarious glory. It's got a great cohesive plot about a pathological liar who is suddenly stripped of that ability due to a wish his little kid made. Carrey is very funny, partly because he reminds us so much of ourselves, and how much lies we tell to cover over different parts of our lives.
Watch this movie. It is more than just funny. It is thoroughly entertaining and leaves us with some great life-lessons as well.

I loved liar liar! I never get tired of watching it! I dont believe his performance was over the top as some might. I think that this is his best movie if not one of the best. It has a GREAT feel good story line and if you couple it with the fantastic actors and hilariouse content youve got a classic entertaining movie you will love for years!

One of the best performances Jim Carrey has given. A very good concept for a film. Funny, refreshing, original and very well done. I felt it could have been a lot better with a little less comedy and a little more drama to get the point across better but still a must see for any Jim Carrey fan. Great acting, casting, screenplay and filming. I recommend it.

I loved this movie and i find it is one of Carrey's funniest performances to date.
Carrey plays a lawyer who tells some outstanding lies that gives him a win every time and makes him one of the top lawyers, but he takes the lying out of work too and lies to everybody. His mother, his ex-wife, his co-workers and even his son Max. Eventually Max has had enough of his fathers lies and on his birthday when blowing out the candles on his cake he makes a wish that his father can't lie and it comes true with some incredbily funny outcomes.
Fletcher (Carrey) on his first day of no lies in the first few minutes of him being awake finds it hard to cope with. On his way to work he tells some horrible truths but at the same time they are incredibly funny.
Through the movie Fletcher comes to realize that although it is hard to cope with that the truth is always the best option but is it too late to win back his son?
A very emotional movie which is a very heartwarming family film that everybody will enjoy.

One of the greatest comedy films ever created in my opinion, "Liar Liar" is absolutely fall-out, laugh-out-loud funny!! From the producer that brought us "Nutty Professor," (Brian Grazer) and the director of hits like, "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" & "Patch Adams," (Tom Shadyac) "Liar Liar" is a big hit and probably Jim Carrey's finest and most complete comedic performance. I have said before that Jim Carrey is one of the few actors that can blend the obviously hilarious antics with a dash of his heartwarming, emotional talent. From start to finish, I couldn't stop laughing at this film!! Carrey plays a divorced attorney named Fletcher Reede, who habitually "stretches the truth." Spearheaded by an effervescent cast, which includes Jennifer Tilly, as Samantha Cole, a lascivious client of Reede's trying to survive an infidelity case. Also appearing in the film is Swoosie Kurtz, Amanda Donohoe, Maura Tierney as Audrey, Fletcher's ex-wife, Cary Elwes as Jerry, Audrey's boyfriend ("Magoo!"), the late Jason Bernard (Judge Marshall Stevens), and a breakout performance by Justin Cooper, who plays Max, Fletcher's son, that makes a wish for his dad not to lie for at least one day during his birthday party. Every blunder and every scene was gut-busting! This movie is even more funny than "Bruce Almighty," which was yet another hit comedy reuniting the Jim Carrey/Tom Shadyac tandem. A bonus is the extra features within the film, featuring an informative featurette called, "Bridging the Comedy Chasm," a photo gallery, a gag reel, and a deleted scene [which I think should have been added to the film. It includes an appearance from Randall "Tex" Cobb]. This is a vastly entertaining, good-natured, family comedy!!

The Movie Itself tells the story of how one smooth talking, habitual liar of an attorney "Fletcher Reede" (played by Jim Carey) is forced by his son's birthday wish to have to tell the truth for the next 24 hours. From the second his son "Max" (played by Justin Cooper) blows out his birthday candles until that exact time the next day "Fletcher" (a shady lawyer) is in for 24 hours of telling "the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

This movie for it's time was a huge hit and allowed star Jim Carey to portray a character that looked normal (meaning not have to wear a wig, make-up, etc.) but still allowed him to be able to do his crazy spontaneous comedy type of acting at the same time. This film is not only hilarious and one that is sure to make you laugh but it's also kind of touching the story between the father, son. Obviously not as much so as just downright how funny Jim Carey is in this film. Even with all the other ratings considered this is still a film worth checking out if you have never seen it.

Video Quality on this release is 1080p VC-1 on a 15 gigabyte HD DVD disc. To be a film from 1997 and only on a HD-15 (15gb HD DVD) the video quality here looks really good I think over the original DVD. I for one owned the original `97 DVD release which was actually a 4:3 Fullscreen version, so for me this is almost like night and day but still it's nothing worthy of a 5 star rating. Honestly at times I have to say this is almost just as good as the video transfer for "Bruce Almighty", the other Jim Carey film released the same day on HD DVD. There is some obvious film grain in a few scenes that just hasn't been cleaned up. This translates into some very noticeable film noise in the video presentation from time to time. This is I guess to be expected from a 1997 release like this but I'd have to say the video transfer is an improvement overall and very watchable.

Audio Quality on this release is in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 @ 1.5Mbps which is an improvement over the original DVD releases' Dolby Digital tracks but still nothing that amazing. It gets 3 stars for being an improvement over the original DVD and really that is why it gets this audio quality rating. The film is primarily dialog driven anyway so it really doesn't matter too much about an improvement in audio quality here. This film is mostly about Jim Carey's character and his hilarious dialog he dishes out once his son has makes the birthday wish. You're most likely going to be laughing so hard at some points I doubt you'll hear too much of the movie's sound over yourself.

Bonus Materials appear to be nothing more than the latest DVD release's ("Collector's Edition") bonus materials ported over and presented in 4:3 standard definition. Really disappointing as you'd expect but let's begin with what all you'll find here. First off there's audio Commentary by Director Tom Shadyac. "Bridging the Comedy Chasm" (16 minutes) starts off to appear to be nothing more than Jim Carey goofing off but soon we get interviews not only from him but also the producer, Director Tom Shadyac and other cast members like the young Justin Cooper. This proves to really showcase Jim obviously more than anybody but it still is worth watching and has some laughs. "Deleted Scene" (4 minutes) is just what you'd expect. Only one deleted scene here obviously but it's a good one if I say so myself. It shows "Fletcher Reede" in a court case (which would have been shown probably near or at the beginning of the film if it had not been deleted) defending this big neanderthal of a criminal against this little old man in a neck brace. It's "Fletcher" at his finest when he could lie. This scene honestly shouldn't have been deleted if you ask me. It's worth 4 minutes of pure laughter, I think anyway. Last we get a very horrible quality (for both video and sound) version of the original Theatrical Trailer to the film. These bonus materials are nothing short of really disappointing as I started this off saying. The only reason this got as high of a rating as it did for bonus materials is the fact Universal not only includes bookmarks now but the ability to make In and Out's to your favorite scenes. If it were not for that, this would have been rated probably 1 or 1 1/2 stars.


-- Review written by Justin Sluss

This movie is funny. Not fall down on the floor funny but funny enough. For those of you who are tired of Carrey's disgusting toilet humor, here is something very different. Jim Carrey is loaded with talent and for the life of me I can't understand why he did so many of those other movies. His talent really shows in movies like Bruce Almighty, The Truman Show, etc.

There is still a bit of innapropriate humor especially for the kids but overall this film is one of Carrey's less smutty films. The premise is charming. Carrey plays a smarmy, do what has to do to win a case lawyer who couldn't tell the truth if it was stapled to his head. He constantly misses play dates with his son (who lives with his mother and she's dating a wimpy, bland, stupid, simple soul of a guy) and disappoints him time after time and never keeps a promise. His son makes a birthday wish that his father would be unable to tell a lie.

The wish comes true and that's where the fun begins. I'm sure you won't be surprised to find that the story has a predictable heartwarming ending but I won't give it away. This would be a perfect film for kids if it weren't for those pesky, innapropriate bits. The film doesn't include nudity but sexual situations are discussed and implied.

The boy tries to unwish the wish that he made but since his heart isn't really in it, it doesn't work. The funniest scenes are probably the courtroom scenes. Carrey is still a madman with a rubber face. Don't miss the outakes at the end of the film. They are hilarious.

All things condsidered, you should purchase this one. I'm glad his choice of movie roles is improving dramatically.