7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A pathologically lying lawyer desperately tries to grant his son's wish that he tell the truth for a 24-hour period.
Starring: Jim Carrey, Maura Tierney, Justin Cooper, Cary Elwes, Anne HaneyComedy | 100% |
Imaginary | 14% |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: DTS 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Jim Carrey likes to mug. If that isn’t one of the most intuitively obvious statements of all time, simply refer to one of the better laughs in Liar Liar, where Carrey’s character, a slimy attorney forced to tell the truth for 24 hours by his son’s birthday wish, admits to his kid that making funny faces won’t cause permanent damage and that in fact some people “make a good living” making them. But Carrey’s predilection for over emoting can be a treacherous situation for an unprepared director. Carrey’s immense earning power has made him fairly unassailable, as director Tom Shadyac readily admits in the commentary included on this Blu-ray. Carrey unrestrained can be a rather wearying prospect, but some directors at least are afraid to reign the actor in. One might assume that Shadyac is one of those, at least when evidenced by Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, his collaboration with Carrey immediately prior to Liar Liar. But that assumption might be at least a bit misleading. Shadyac (who went on to work with Carrey another time in Bruce Almighty) actually seems to be one of the better “cat wranglers” that Carrey has worked with, allowing the actor to experiment enough to provide some unexpected laughs, but also keeping him on the relative straight and narrow so that some semblance of “reality” is maintained. Liar Liar was a kind of “new” sort of vehicle for Carrey at the time of its release, less ostensibly cartoonish than many of his previous efforts, and with a high concept that required a balancing act between Carrey’s typically manic shtick and a more nuanced approach. It’s to Shadyac’s credit that for the most part this balancing act is well managed. Yes, Carrey mugs—a lot, in fact. But there’s also an undeniable sweetness and heart to this film that has no doubt contributed to its enduring popularity.
Liar Liar is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Studios with a VC-1 encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. My hunch is this is an older master, for it only seldom really pops with vivid detail or lustrous visuals. That said, the film has never been a glossy production, so some of the kind of drab appearance of this transfer is no doubt endemic to the source. Colors are decently saturated, if never mind blowing, and look accurate, if just a tad on the brown side some of the time. Contrast is generally okay, if again never overwhelmingly strong. I've seen some online comments alleging rampant ringing in this presentation, but I have to say I personally saw little if any of that issue. Instead, the biggest complaint some may have is just a kind of generally middling look here, one that's acceptably sharp but never brilliantly precise. One big plus for some may be that Universal has not digitally wiped every last trace of grain from the image, though my hunch is some moderate noise reduction may have been applied to this release.
Liar Liar's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (repurposed from the original stereo) actually provides a fair amount of immersion, at least for a comedy. Some of this is due to the usual suspects like source cues or underscore, but in a couple of key sequences, notably the lunatic chase at the airport which caps the film, there's some good discrete channelization of foley effects. Dialogue is very cleanly presented and there's unusually wide dynamic range for this type of film.
Liar Liar has a great basic premise that is nicely realized for the most part, even with some over the top histrionics from Jim Carrey. There's a nice subtext of heart in this film which helps to carry it through some of its sillier moments, and there's no denying that Carrey's impossibly elastic face manages to create some hearty guffaws. The biggest lasting impression here, though, may well be the superb supporting cast, all of whom do great work in some very nicely colorful roles. This Blu-ray is really nothing to write home about (and that's no lie) in the video department, but audio is fine and the supplements are decent as well.
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