Liar Liar

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Liar Liar

Promotional poster for Liar Liar
Directed by Tom Shadyac
Produced by Brian Grazer
Written by Paul Guay
Stephen Mazur
Starring Jim Carrey
Maura Tierney
Justin Cooper
Jennifer Tilly
Anne Haney
Swoosie Kurtz
Cary Elwes
Amanda Donohoe

Rated: PG-13
Music by John Debney
Cinematography Russell Boyd
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Imagine Entertainment
Release date(s) March 21, 1997
Running time 86 min.
Language English

Liar Liar is a 1997 American comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and starring Jim Carrey. It was written by Paul Guay and Stephen Mazur. Carrey was nominated for a Golden Globe Award (1998) for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical. The film is the second of three collaborations between Jim Carrey and Tom Shadyac, the first being Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and the third being Bruce Almighty.

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[edit] Plot synopsis

Fletcher Reede (Carrey) is a particularly career-focused lawyer and divorced father. He has a habit of giving precedence to his job, breaking promises to his young son Max and then lying to both Max and his ex-wife Audrey about the real reason he missed the get-together. Fletcher lets Max down once too often, missing his birthday party, and has to deal with the consequences of a wish Max makes while blowing out the candles on his cake that actually comes true. The wish is that Fletcher cannot tell a lie for an entire day. The plot is reminiscent of The Twilight Zone episode "The Whole Truth," which involves a used car salesman being forced into uninhibited honesty by a haunted car.

Fletcher soon has several embarrassing instances where he blurts out exactly what he is thinking and figures out that he is unable to lie or even withhold a true answer. These incidents come at a rather bad time as he is fighting a divorce case in court, which, should he win, could be a huge boost to his career. His main witness is willing to commit perjury to help win but Fletcher discovers he cannot even ask a question if he knows the answer will be a lie. Meanwhile, Audrey is threatening to move to Boston with her new boyfriend, Jerry, and take Max with them.

Over the course of the film, Fletcher realizes what is truly important to him and, at the end, struggles to stop his son from being taken so far away from him. He also manages to win the case truthfully by using a loophole in the law (namely that his client had lied about her age and was 17 when she signed the prenuptial agreement), with the repercussions being a major catalyst to his understanding of what he is likely to lose. When he sees the results of winning the case (the mother of the children decides to go to court again for a child custody case and literally pulls them out of their father's arms as they are saying goodbye), he ends up shouting at the judge to reverse the decision and gets thrown in jail for contempt in court. When telephoning Audrey to bail him, she refuses. However, his secretary Greta turns up and bails him.

Near the end, Fletcher hijackes some air stairs and chases Audrey's airplane. He is injured after an accident but does manage to speak to his son. The "Curse" finishes at 8:15 pm, but Fletcher vows to tell nothing but the truth from now on, and, a year later, he is shown at his son's next birthday party enjoying a far closer relationship with Max, while he and Audrey share a kiss after Max blows out his candles. Fletcher initially suspects Max of wishing them back together, but when they discover that he did not (he wished for some Rollerblades instead) the two realize that their feelings are genuine.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Reaction

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics with a "Fresh" score of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes, a "Fresh" score of 85% of the Cream Of The Crop from major news outlets, and a "Fresh" score of 81% from the users. Critics such as Roger Ebert stated, "I am gradually developing a suspicion, or perhaps it is a fear, that Jim Carrey is growing on me." Roger Ebert previously gave bad reviews of Carrey films like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Dumb and Dumber.

[edit] Box Office Performance

The film did well at the box office: the opening weekend made $31,423,025 in 2,845 theaters. Domestically the film made $181,410,615, and at the foreign box office it made $121,300,000 - altogether the film made $302,710,615.

[edit] References in other movies and trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The ending of the movie is referenced in the Gary Allan hit Watching Airplanes where the narrator asks his ex, "I wonder what you'd do if you looked out your window and saw me runnin' down the runway just like I was crazy. But that fence is too high."

[edit] Soundtrack

John Debney's work on the film's soundtrack has become a cult favorite in underground music and among indie music groups. Most notably, Brandon Flowers of the rock band The Killers is rumored to be a big fan of Debney's work on the soundtrack. Some people have said that Bob Dylan and U2's Bono are also fans.[citation needed]

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Tom Shadyac

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) • The Nutty Professor (1996) • Liar Liar (1997) • Patch Adams (1998) • Dragonfly (2002) • Bruce Almighty (2003) • Evan Almighty (2007) • Dr. Sensitive (2009)