Review of Liar Liar (1997) by Stevenf — 04 Sep 2013

As star Jim Carrey fights with a blue pen in his office, we realise the comedy gold that only Carrey can bring to any scene, no matter how trivial it may appear or how ridiculous the premise is, his energy and combination of appealing to all audiences is unmatched, his role in the simply premised Liar Liar just solidifies this opinion. He plays a hotshot lawyer Fletcher who lets his young son down time after time, Fletcher is recently divorced as well, but can never spend quality time with young Max (Justin Cooper), but on the young boys birthday, he makes the wish of all wishes that no human could live without, the ability to lie. This naturally gives him a very bad day in court, where lying is second nature, but the better instances in the film come from the various situations that Fletcher runs into in his day of telling the truth, his above mentioned fight with a blue pen to convince himself it is red, beating himself in a bathroom for no reason whatsoever, they are some of the best laughs of the film, Carrey's unique ability to control each scene with endless amounts of laughter is truly admirable, he shows maniacal behaviour as he prances and shouts his way around a courtroom, trying his best to sabotage his own case. He beats himself up, gets in trouble with the law and continues to try and mend his relationship with his son, telling the truth all along the way.

The premise is interesting in the sense that it ushers towards a supernatural element, yet of doesn't necessarily promote this, what it really tries to do is test the relationship that a person holds with various important people in their lives, their boss, family, associates etc, just how much of that friendship is built on trust or more so, lies.

This is Carrey's film from start to finish, but Jennifer Tilly gives an appropriate amount of lustful and villainous behaviour as the temptress type mother of Fletchers struggling case in court, while Cary Elwes plays the trying to hard boyfriend of Fletchers ex-wife Audrey (Maura Tierney).

While the deliberate paces creates a predictable finish, Carrey's ability to have diverse expressions and put himself out there into any role truly shows his talent onscreen, especially in such a comical capacity like he is here.