Big Fat Liar (2002)

Director:

Shawn Levy

Writers (WGA):

Dan Schneider (story) &
Brian Robbins (story) ...

Release Date:

8 February 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Family

Tagline:

The truth is never overrated

Plot:

After a young boy's school essay erroneously finds its way into the hands of a Hollywood producer who turns the idea into a hit film, the boy travels to Los Angeles to claim his credit.

Plot Keywords:

Story | Essay | Liar | Producer | Paper

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Frankie Muniz	...	Jason Shepherd
Paul Giamatti	...	Marty Wolf
Amanda Bynes	...	Kaylee
Amanda Detmer	...	Monty Kirkham
Donald Faison	...	Frank Jackson
Sandra Oh	...	Mrs. Phyllis Caldwell
Russell Hornsby	...	Marcus Duncan
Michael Bryan French	...	Harry Shepherd
Christine Tucci	...	Carol Shepherd
Lee Majors	...	Vince
Sean O'Bryan	...	Leo
Amy Hill	...	Joscelyn Davis
John Cho	...	Dustin 'Dusty' Wong
Matthew Frauman	...	Lester Golub
Don Yesso	...	Rocco Malone

Also Known As:

Lügen haben kurze Beine (Germany)
Lost and Found (USA) (working title)
Pay or Play (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some language.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:G | South Korea:All | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-7 | Germany:6 | Norway:11 | Philippines:G | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG | USA:PG (certificate #38481) | Iceland:L | Brazil:Livre

Filming Locations:

Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Marty Wolf mentions the film Saving Private Ryan (1998) while talking to Jason. Paul Giamatti, who plays Wolf, played in the latter.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Wolf realizes his car has been sabotaged (specifically where he finds that his brakes are connected to the car horn), his brakes clearly work as he stops his car (despite hearing the car horn when he hits the brakes) but in the scene immediately following we see he cannot stop the car, as it should have been in the earlier scene.

Quotes:

Marty Wolf: You can take your personal day in a year or two when you're dead!

Movie Connections:

References Jurassic Park (1993)

Soundtrack:

Party Time

I got drug along, but it wasn't bad

Okay, I'll admit that if I didn't have kids, I never would have seen this film and would never see it. But, considering all the rotten kids movies I have seen (such as SPY KIDS 2 or BABE: PIG IN THE CITY), this is a significant improvement. And, it had enough in it that I wasn't totally bored out of my skull or contemplated suicide (something I did repeatedly in the other two movies). Sure, the performances are pretty broad and the plot is kinda silly--but it IS a kids film. And, compared with other films in the genre, this is definitely better than average. Frankie Muniz and Amanda Bines actually appear to have some talent and probably will continue to have careers after puberty--at least on infomercials or doing voice-overs.

So, if you are looking for a film to see with your kids, you certainly could do a lot worse!