While the pen being blue is the truth, saying the pen is red isn't a lie: it's just incorrect. What a weird scene when you really think about it.
While every comedy I’ve returned to during The Great Coronavirus Shut-In has left me disappointed save for The Cable Guy, I either still enjoyed it on some level or just had a bad time watching it – Liar Liar is somewhere in between.
From a story perspective, there isn’t too much wrong with this film. As a family (sic?) film it tells a story with a moral, even if it is pretty unrealistic. I wasn’t quite a kid when it was released, but I wasn’t quite a teenager either. I think most kids can relate to Max in this film and the disappointment that comes with a parent lying about something or not coming through with a promise so this film is has a good avatar vector for kids. Parents can probably relate to Carrey’s Fletcher Reede, not so much in being a self-centered douchebag as in having to balance various responsibilities in life and inevitably letting their kids down. So in terms of telling a story about the importance of family and honesty and togetherness, it’s a solid film.
However, the character of Fletcher Reede is a problem. He's an out-and-out shitshow of a human being. He seems to have no regard for anyone but himself. He's manipulative in the worst way. He sees very few people as actual human beings. I think if he were less over-the-top awful we could see him as someone worthy of redemption, but he just isn't. Somehow the film expects us to believe in a mere 24 hours he can change and everyone should just forgive him, but it's bullshit. I can get his son forgiving him...kids are stupid. But his ex-wife leaves her new man, who, despite being a goober, seems very loving and successful. We've seen zero evidence he's a remotely competent parent besides manipulating his son with The Claw as if antics equals good parenting.
While I get what the filmmakers were going for here, it's impossible to accept this utterly irredeemable sociopath became an empathetic, caring person in 24 hours, never reverted in 12 months, and he is eternally rewarded for...what exactly? Committing crimes and misdemeanors at an airport? That's not how The Force works!
Actual photo of this film trying really hard to manipulate my emotions with ham fists.
Unfortunately, I just didn’t find it very funny 23 years later. Jim Carrey hurling himself across the screen fighting himself and even a blue pen just don’t do it for me anymore. The histrionics and over-zealous physical performance were something that was left in the 90s for a reason, I think. They are just very hollow laughs that aren’t in service of a story or character…it’s humour trapped in a vacuum. Who knows, maybe if I watched Liar Liar on a different day in a different mood I would have laughed more than I did. It’s not that Liar Liar isn’t a funny film objectively; maybe it simply wasn’t funny for me on this day.
There were some chuckles along the way obviously, like Carey Elwes being a total goober and Fletcher’s ostensible good will as he fibs compliments to people to manipulate them. But the first real laugh I got out of the film was at the end of the solid scene where he roasts all his superiors and at the end he pulls off a guy’s toupee and sticks it to the wall. The laughs came a little easier for me after that. Maybe I needed that lubrication of laughing…moistly. The courtroom stuff in the second half is easily the strongest portion of the film, mostly because Carrey has some talented people to play off during those scenes – not to mention the scenes rely far more on clever writing and an unfolding narrative compared to the rest of the film.
This was the perfect combination of setup and payoff, coupled with a hilarious visual gag and great comedic momentum.
Now…what makes Liar Liar such a 90s movie.
1 – The Cast
While some members of the cast have continued in their career past the millennium, in many ways they’re defined by their work beforehand. Jim Carrey is still best known for his work in the 90s despite some critic and a few box office successes over the past 20 years, but he’s largely become irrelevant, more known for being creepy with Emma Stone and being politically ridiculous with awful paintings than his acting. Maura Tierney (who is low key smoking hot, by the way) was shining brightest in the 90s with some roles in high profile films and News Radio. Cary Elwes is best known for The Princess Bride and Saw, both out of the 90s, but Elwes had the best Hollywood run of his career in the 90s, and he largely vanished after Saw. Jennifer Tilly was a rising star in the 90s, even earning an Oscar nomination for Bullets Over Broadway. In the past 15 years Tilly has taken a major step back from Hollywood, focusing more on playing poker with her husband WPT pro Phil Laak.
Such a GOOBER!
2 – The Adult Content
Kids movies these days are so sanitized. While this is a family film in the sense that the appeal of Carrey to kids and the fable like story will appeal to many kids, not to mention the fantasy of having power over your parents. But there is a lot of talk about sex, adultery (without typical innuendo), mild swearing and other things that aren’t necessarily offensive, but simply would not fly today for a more family-friendly film. I don’t recall this movie being as risqué as it is. But family-friendly movies in the 90s were rougher around the edges. I remember watching Angels in the Outfield a few years back with a bottle of whiskey hoping it would be funny (it wasn’t) and that was a definite kids movie, and like everyone was smoking. It’s just so odd to see after two decades of it not being a thing.
3 – The Courtoom
Any child of the 90s can tell you just how many courtroom dramas came out in the 90s, and if they weren’t strictly about the courtroom, they often played a significant role such as this film. So popular were they that if you type ‘courtroom films’ into Google, about 80% of the results will be 90s movies. I’m not sure if the OJ trial is the reason or if it was merely the success of films like A Few Good Men, My Cousin Vinny, JFK and Philadelphia in the early 90s. Few genres of film are so rooted in the 90s like courtroom films. It’s a genre that tries to remain relevant these days with films like The Judge, Just Mercy and Dark Waters, but they are anachronisms. It’s possible they will make a comeback, much like I’ve noticed an uptick in conspiracy/corruption dramas, which were equally as popular in the 90s.
Jennifer Tilly was smoking hot in the 90s. That full figure and that voice! Let us take a break and admire the cans situation.
4 – The Airport Climax
Could you imagine this happening in a post 9/11 world? Could you imagine the jail time and fines that would come with illegally entering a runway, hijacking a staircar, halting the takeoff of a passenger jet, putting workers in danger, destroying airport property and damaging a bunch of luggage? In 2002, Fletcher Reede would be tasered, beaten, shipped off to Gitmo and probably never seen again. Or, for a more family friendly version, the one year later coda in 2003 would take place in a visiting room in a maximum security prison and Fletcher Reede would live forever on a watch list and his own birthday cake would have a magical nail file in it only to discover Maxamillion's latest birthday wish was for Fletcher to serve consecutive life sentences and the file disintegrates in his hand.
Still from scrapped sequel project "Liar Liar 2: Planes on Fire". It was paired with the tagline: "It was safe to be a flier flier until his pants brought the fire fire."
5 – Member Live Action Family Films?
The 90s were full of live action family films. While animation was at its biggest peak in decades with the explosion of Disney and Pixar and the dawning of Dreamworks Animation, there were so many live action family films in the 90s that simply are no longer made. Animation dominates that market now. If you Google “90s family movies” you get a bunch of live action stuff. If you Google “2010s family movies” it’s almost entirely animated. How many of these movies did you love watching as a kid (provided you’re not a kid or a boomer now)?
The Sandlot
Matilda
Babe
Home Alone/Home Alone 2
Kindergarten Cop
Little Giants
Rookie of the Year
Little Big League
Angels in the Outfield
Hocus Pocus
Jumanji
Hook
Jingle all the Way
George of the Jungle
Beethoven
The Mighty Ducks
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Secrets of the Ooze
3 Ninjas
Mrs. Doubtfire
101 Dalmations
Casper
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
The Addams Family
Fly Away Home
Richie Rich
The Santa Clause
The Last Action Hero
Free Willy
Dr. Dolittle
Space Jam (though a bit of a blend with animation)
The Big Green
My Girl
Fluke
Paulie
White Fang
Iron Will
The Jungle Book
Dennis the Menace
Power Rangers
Mouse Hunt
The Little Rascals
Wild America
Blank Check
And there are so many horrible ones too! (some of the once I listed are horrible too, but more notorious) like Jungle 2 Jungle, Man of the House (basically anything with JTT and/or Tim Allen), and Cop and a Half. But it was a golden age for live action family films. And sure most of them were cheesy, but thinking about watching so many of these growing up makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I don’t know why they stopped making movie like this. I can’t see it being more expensive since animated films rack up 100 million dollar budgets, compared to The Sandlot which cost 7 million, and even Home Alone 2 only cost 20 million to make.
Me wishing my next 90s comedy is a more enjoyable experience.