Liar Liar (1997)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

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:

Wish | Lie | Lawyer | Birthday | Lying

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

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo | DTS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:14A (Ontario) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #35145) | USA:TV-PG (cut version) | Philippines:PG-13 | New Zealand:M | 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 Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Imagine Entertainment

Trivia:

Max's teacher is reading to her class a story from Dr. Seuss "Green Eggs and Ham". Jim Carrey has played the Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), and Horton in Horton Hears a Who! (2008), both Dr. Seuss stories.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Fletcher is chasing the airplane down the taxi way the aircraft shown is a Boeing 747, which in coach has 3-4-3 seating across each row. However, the interior shots in the plane show just a 3-3 configuration, which would indicate the plane is of some more common domestic variety (Boeing 757, 737, Airbus A320, etc). 747s are almost never used in US domestic flights, only international.

Quotes:

Greta: Mr. Reede, several years ago a friend of mine had a burglar on her roof, a burglar. He fell through the kitchen skylight, landed on a cutting board, on a butcher's knife, cutting his leg. The burglar sued my friend, he sued my friend. And because of guys like you *he won*. My friend had to pay the burglar $6,000. Is that justice?
Fletcher: No!
[Greta looks pleased, but then Fletcher continues]
Fletcher: I'd have got him ten.
[Greta stalks off, appalled]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Frasier: Liar! Liar! (#4.10)" (1997)

Jim Carrey's best film!

Liar Liar is in my top 3 favorite comedies of all time and my favorite Jim Carrey flick! He was just so awesome and hilarious in Liar Liar! Not only did he do mental comedy, but physical comedy that will make your stomach hurt from laughing so much! I'm not kidding when I say that I know a dozen people where we just rehearse the lines from Liar Liar back and forth, because all the scenes are just so memorable.

Fletcher Reed is a lawyer who, surprise, lies to win cases. He's a huge success and is about to be made partner by his firm if he wins one last case for Mrs. Cole, a divorcée who cheated on her husband with tons of proof against her, Fletcher has to prove that she was a victim of circumstance. Fletcher has a son and an ex wife as well, he lies to them all the time as well and makes excuses why he can't spend enough time with his son, Max. When he lies and cancels going to Max's birthday party to sleep with his boss to get ahead, Max is terribly disappointed and hurt, so he makes one birthday wish, that his father cannot lie... guess what? It works!

Fletcher wakes up and tells his boss she was not the best he had, leading to an encounter with a hottie in the elevator and making offensive comments about her "jugs". He passes a homeless man and tells him why he doesn't give change to "the decay of western society!" and goes to court not very ready to fight his case that could make or break his career since he can't lie. More comedy ensues as Fletcher deals with the pressure on how to learn to tell the truth to win the case and prevent his son and ex wife from moving to Boston with her new boyfriend.

Liar Liar will make your sides hurt and you'll watch this movie again and again when you see how hilarious Jim Carrey is. My sister isn't a Jim Carrey fan and even admitted that she had more than a few good laughs watching this film. Not to mention that it has a great feel good ending that you'll just fall for.

10/10