LIAR LIAR
SYNOPSIS:
Unlike your average lawyer, hotshot young attorney Fletcher Reede
(Carrey) is prone to exaggerating, distorting and bending the
truth. He’s a liar, his five year old young son thinks.
(Lawyer?, the teacher suggests. The boy shrugs.) Exasperated by
his lies, his son makes a birthday wish that daddy be unable to
lie for one whole day. Reede suddenly learns that his biggest
asset - his mouth - suddenly becomes his biggest liability.
Speaking the truth gets him into a lot of bother. He tries to gag
himself, mug himself but nothing works - until he changes
himself.
"An interesting script coupled with Jim Carrey’s
talents brings a lot of laughs. This is the first film where a
Carrey character actually shows some normality - in parts.
Previous roles in Ace Ventura, The Mask and Dumb & Dumber all
showcase Carrey as one real whacko, weirdo eccentric. As
compulsive liar, hotshot attorney Fletcher Reede, (complete with
all the Carrey mannerisms), for much of the film he is that
familiar character who uses his hugely expressive face and vast
imagination to present the most unlikely details of life in a
different way. We see (for the first time) a side of the
character that is - can I say it - almost ‘normal?’
This is the aspect that represents the loving father. And this
contrast of the over-the-top with the ‘norm’ makes the
rest of the film much funnier. Carrey is given plenty of scope to
unleash his imaginative craziness. I mean, can you imagine making
a fight with a blue pen hysterically funny? Or stabbing yourself
with a phone? It is really a spoof on lawyer jokes. "What
does your daddy do?" asks the teacher. "He’s a
liar," says the five year old. "Oh a lawyer…"
The humour is at times so off the wall, and how Fletcher manages
to win his all-important court case is gut-wrenchingly funny. The
support cast all play it straight most effectively, but Jennifer
Tilly, so memorable in Bound, seems miscast as the buxom client
accused of adultery. Stick around after the film as the credits
roll, for some of the takes that didn’t make the final cut.
These give an insight into the improvisational style of Jim
Carrey."
Louise Keller
"Jim Carrey has always been an acquired taste, and many
of his films have been little more than a vehicle for his often
annoying brand of physical comedy. It seems that beneath the
comic gesticulations of the actor, depth lurks. This is evidenced
by Carrey's work in Liar, Liar, his most accessible and funniest
film to date. Funny, not because of the imaginative way in which
he can stretch a jaw muscle, but a sense of originality combined
with a genuinely hilarious situation. The film beautifully pokes
fun at the legal profession as well as the whole notion of truth
and flattery, all of which are tied together. Carrey's Fletcher
is merely a slight exaggeration of us all, who gently lie and
deceive our way through life. Perhaps our own lives,
relationships and work ethic would be so very different if we
were forced to be truthful. What a concept! That is what make
Liar, Liar so inventively comic, so deliciously appealing, and
why Carrey's performance has more range and humanity to it than
he's ever delivered before. Perhaps it can be argued that this is
a one-joke movie, but what a joke it is."
Paul Fischer
"It seems to me ironic that a contemporary Hollywood film
make such a big deal about liars and lawyers, all in the same
breath. The heart of the film is in the morality of telling the
truth: and Hollywood knows how to lay on the truth. Anyway,
pulling all the right strings, the script manages to set us up
for the antics of an anti-hero who finds salvation in the face of
his innocent five year old, whose wish to have him unable to lie
shows him just how much he relies on lies to live his life. The
choice bits involve a sexual encounter and a legal encounter.
Carrey continues to deliver the 90s Jerry Lewis but here combined
with hints of his own charming and level persona, to make an
effective comedy that is exactly what you anticipate. It
isn’t for everyone, but neither is peanut butter with
jam."
Andrew L. Urban
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Jim Carrey
Father and son
LIAR LIAR
(US)
CAST: Jim Carrey, Maura Tierney, Jennifer Tilly, Swoosie
Kurtz, Amanda Donohoe, Jason Bernard, Mitchell Ryan, Anne Haney,
Justin Cooper and Cary Elwes
DIRECTOR: Tom Shadyac
PRODUCER: Brian Grazer
SCRIPT: Paul Guay & Stephen Mazur
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Russell Boyd
EDITOR: Don Zimmerman
MUSIC: John Debney
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Linda DeScenna
RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes
AUSTRALIAN RELEASE: June 19, 1997
AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: UIP
AUSTRALIAN VIDEO DISTRIBUTOR: CIC VIDEO
AUSTRALIAN VIDEO RELEASE:Oct 15, 1998
RRP: $29.95
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