Fletcher Reede: Jim Carrey (Ace Ventura 1 and 2, Batman Forever, The Mask,
The Cable Guy, Dumb And Dumber)
Audrey Reede: Maura Tierney (Primary Colors)
Max Reede: Justin Cooper Jerry: Cary Elwes (Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Jungle Book, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, Twister)
Greta: Anne Haney Samantha Cole: Jennifer Tilly (Bound, The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Getaway, Made In America)
Miranda: Amanda Donohoe (Castaway, The Madness Of King George, TV: L.A. Law)
Judge Marshall Stevens: Jason Bernard Dana Appleton: Swoosie Kurtz (And The Band Played On, Bright Lights Big City, Reality Bites)
Lady In Elevator: Krista Allen (Raven)
Liar Liar
stars Jim Carrey as Fletcher Reede, a fast-talking
attorney and habitual liar. When his son Max (Justin Cooper) blows out
the candles on his fifth birthday cake, he has just one wish - that his dad
would stop lying for 24 hours.
When Max's wish miraculously comes true, Fletcher discovers that his
biggest asset - his mouth - has suddenly become his biggest liability !
Fletcher tries to keep his practise afloat and his ex-wife Audrey (Maura
Tierney) from taking their son and moving to Boston with her new love
Jerry (Cary Elwes).
That's not the only problem facing Fletcher though as he has his most important
case today. He has to fight for Jennifer Tilly to get her children back,
despite the fact that the pre-nuptial agreement she signed stated that she'll
lose everything if she's unfaithful. Her 7 affairs may put paid to that unless
Fletcher manages to lie again. If he fails though, he'll also miss out on
becoming a partner in the business with Amanda Donohoe.
It doesn't take a genius to work out how this comedy ends, but there's an
enormous amount of fun to be had along the way and it doesn't wallow in
sentimental mush like you'd expect it to.
The basis of the film lies in its main performance from Jim Carrey as the
lying lawyer. I was never really Carrey's biggest fan after Ace Ventura 1
but films like this and The Mask prove that some doses of his zany
madness do work very well and as such he commands around $20 million per
picture.
Maura Tierney is fine as his ex-wife, but there's not a great deal in the
role for her, and given that she's a Jennifer Aniston-lookalike, one
wonders if the role was written with her in mind. Justin Cooper makes
for a cute kid, save for his bowl-head haircut, bringing out one of Carrey's
best lines when, during the 24hrs of truth, he pulls his face and asks,
"Will it get stuck like that ?", to which he replies very honestly,
"No, and in fact some people make a good living that way.".
The cast is fleshed out with Carey Elwes as snooty Jerry; Anne
Haney as Fletcher's secretary, and very similar-looking to the late Jessica
Tandy; Jennifer Tilly as the voluptuous adulteress, Amanda
Donohoe as the voluptuous partner, Swoosie Kurtz as the lawyer for
the prosecution, Krista Allen as the lady in the elevator who keeps
Fletcher in check during their one scene together, plus the late Jason
Bernard as the court judge.
I'm certainly not lying when I tell you that the print seen here is free
of artifacts and looks spot-on perfect. The film is presented in its original
widescreen ratio of 1.85:1 and is anamorphically-enhanced for 16:9 widescreen
televisions which provides 33% higher resolution - and the average bitrate is
a very good 6.74Mb/s, regularly peaking over 8Mb/s.
The sound quality, while not full of surround-sound moments, plays very clear
throughout with some comic sounds but mainly incidental music. This DVD comes
complete with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound for the English soundtrack, unlike the
PAL Laserdisc which could only accomodate a Dolby Surround one.
Jim Carrey told one Benny Hill joke too many.
Extras :
Chapters and Trailer :
There's only 16 chapters here to cover the 83-minute film, which isn't too
bad but pales in comparison with the 25 that adorned the PAL Laserdisc.
The original theatrical trailer is included.
Languages and Subtitles :
Both English and French are available in Dolby Digital 5.1, while German,
Italian and Spanish can be heard in Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround).
Subtitles can be seen in English, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Swedish,
Norwegian, Dutch, Polish and Czech.
Filmographies and Biographies :
Extensive biographies with accompanying filmographies are available for all
the principal actors right down to the pint-size Justin Cooper plus
producer Brian Grazer and director Tom Shadyac.
Menu :
Similar to the first batch of Universal releases, the menu is static and silent
with a picture mirroring the cover on the main menu while other menus contain
pictures of cast members. On playing the disc you see the Universal logo and a
copyright message before the main menu appears.
There's only one thing that annoys me a bit in this film which is when Carrey
launches into a Tina Turner impression, and at its "singing" height the shot
cuts to Amanda Donohoe for a reaction shot of her laughing unconvincingly, when
an alternative shot of Jennifer Tilly looking bemused, which I saw on TV in a
slightly-extended version of the featurette found on the PAL Laserdisc, worked
much better.
Aside from that minor quibble, the entertainment value of the film cannot be
questioned as it's a thoroughly enjoyable comedy. It's just a shame that it's
missing the aforementioned featurette - "Bridging The Comedy Chasm" - and the
greater number of chapters.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
