Liar Liar (1997)

Director:

Tom Shadyac

Writers (WGA):

Paul Guay (written by) &
Stephen Mazur (written by)

Release Date:

21 March 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy

Tagline:

Trust Me

Plot:

A fast track lawyer can't lie for 24 hours due to his son's birthday wish after the lawyer turns his son down for the last time.

Plot Keywords:

Birthday Cake | Trail | Airplane | Second Chance | Trial

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Jim Carrey	...	Fletcher Reede
Maura Tierney	...	Audrey Reede
Justin Cooper	...	Max Reede
Cary Elwes	...	Jerry
Anne Haney	...	Greta
Jennifer Tilly	...	Samantha Cole
Amanda Donohoe	...	Miranda
Jason Bernard	...	Judge Marshall Stevens
Swoosie Kurtz	...	Dana Appleton
Mitch Ryan	...	Mr. Allan (as Mitchell Ryan)
Christopher Mayer	...	Kenneth Falk (as Chip Mayer)
Eric Pierpoint	...	Richard Cole
Randall 'Tex' Cobb	...	Skull
Cheri Oteri	...	Jane
SW Fisher	...	Pete

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sex related humor and language.

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:TV-PG (cut version) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #35145) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Canada:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:7 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | Spain:7 | Sweden:7 | UK:12 | Singapore:PG | Brazil:Livre

Filming Locations:

City Hall - 200 N. Spring St., Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Imagine Entertainment

Trivia:

As an in-joke, director Tom Shadyac had Jim Carrey dress up as Fire Marshall Bill, a character Carrey originally portrayed in the TV series "In Living Color" (1990). You can spot him in the background of the final rescue scene at the airport.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Fletcher said that the prenuptial agreement is void because minors are not allowed to enter into any contractual arrangements. The judge and certainly the attorney for Mr. Cole should have pointed out that a marriage is a contractual arrangement, and the 'minor' is entitled to nothing.

Quotes:

Office Worker: Hey, Fletcher, how's it hanging?
Fletcher: [groans] Short, shriveled, and always to the left.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hamlet (2000)

Carrey at his best

I have to admit, I'm probably a little biased with this movie, as it contains two of the things I love the most in any movie; court scenes and Jim Carrey. I'll try my best to be objective in this review, though. The plot is good, and as the film barely takes 90 minutes it's fairly fast-paced(well, for a Jim Carrey comedy, anyway); I don't think there ever passes 5 minutes without one single joke. The acting is fairly good; Jim Carrey is in his element, so it's no surprise that he's good, but I did find both Maura Tierney and Cary Elwes pretty good too. I know that Elwes is English, not American, and after seeing another movie in which he has a strong English accent(Robin Hood: Men in Tights), I was impressed at how well he does American parts as well. The characters are well-written and credible. The humor is great, partly because it's, well, Carrey, but also because unlike some of Carrey's previous roles, this is fairly "clean", so teenagers and some kids will be able to enjoy it as well. The theme of the film is great; I mean, we all know that we lie several times a day(heck, it's even been scientifically proved), but what about if we, for one whole day, couldn't tell one single lie? Great theme, provokes some thought and is executed fairly well in the film, though I do think it could have been done a tad better. Overall, I don't have any major complaints with the film though; I guess it could be argued that most of what Carrey does in this film, the comedy and all, is stuff he's done before, but that's OK; it's not any less entertaining here, regardless of the fact that we've seen it(or something similar to it) earlier. The dialog is great, with some very memorable and quotable lines. All in all, a typical Carrey film, which can be a good thing as well as bad; Carrey does exactly what you expect him to, and he's very entertaining and all, but it never transcends the standard level of the typical Carrey comedy. On a final note, I think this(as well as his other work) proves that Tom Shadyac is the best there is at bringing out Carrey's talents(he also directed Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Bruce Almighty). I recommend it to any fan of Jim Carrey and/or Tom Shadyac. 7/10