Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Liar Liar Blu-ray Movie Review

To Tell the Truth: Jim Carrey Edition.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 21, 2013

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.

That old joke goes something like, “What do you call thirty lawyers at the bottom of a lake? A good start.” Carrey portrays slimy but effective attorney Fletcher Reede who, as the film begins, is simultaneously (repeatedly) standing up his adorable little boy Max (Justin Cooper) while shepherding a money grubbing low life named Samantha Cole (Jennifer Tilly) through a divorce where she hopes to reap huge financial rewards from her millionaire husband, despite the fact that she cheated on him. Reede has prepared a little script for Samantha to follow which has absolutely nothing to do with the truth, giving the audience an instant insight into Reede’s tenuous connection to “the facts and just the facts”.

Max is sick of his Dad promising to show up for various events and then never following through, something that also upsets Fletcher’s estranged wife Audrey (Maura Tierney). Max decides to take matters into his own small hands at his birthday party one night, using his candle wish to make his father tell the truth for one 24 hour period. As in all good fantasy films, Max’s wish comes true and Fletcher finds himself forced to be completely honest, contrary to every mendacious fiber in his body.

The bulk of Liar Liar’s humor stems from Fletcher’s increasingly desperate attempts not to let the Cole divorce proceedings go off the rails, despite the fact that he cannot now participate in the little charade he had arranged. Carrey mugs incessantly here, but often to hysterical effect. Often in other Carrey enterprises the manic face making and bizarre contortions had little motivating factor, but here he’s playing a character struggling against a force he can’t control, making the physical comedy not just funny, but appropriate. Balancing these frenetic escapades are the more heartfelt interludes as Fletcher comes to realize what a heel he’s been to his young son. If Carrey isn’t quite as convincing in these sequences, he’s still at least acceptably warm and natural.

Liar Liar is a high concept piece that actually manages to deliver quite a bit of the time. Any adult worth their salt is going to relate to the fact that “little white lies” need to be told from time to time, and so Fletcher’s predicament, while obviously exaggerated, is more relatable than it might otherwise be. The writing is often quite sharp, with nice verbal humor interspersed with the more traditional Carrey physical shtick. One of the real saving graces here is the absolutely top notch supporting cast. Tierney is lovely and low key, and Cary Elwes as her would-be suitor is also a nicely unstereotypical nice guy who just happens not to spark much romantic interest in her. Jennifer Tilly is hilarious as the gold digging Samantha, stuffed into a suit that’s a few sizes too small for her. Other standouts include a curt Swoosie Kurtz as Fletcher’s opposing counsel, Amanda Donohoe as his lustful boss, and the absolutely wonderful Anne Haney as Fletcher’s put upon secretary.

Liar Liar Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scene (480i; 3:52)


• Outtakes (480i; 1:34)


• Bridging the Comedy Chasm (480i; 16:08) is a basic EPK punctuated by lots of Carrey mugging.


• Feature Commentary with Director Tom Shadyac. Shadyac is pretty low key but delivers a fairly engaging commentary. He's especially interesting when he talks about toeing a fine line between letting Carrey go a little crazy and trying to ground the film in some semblance of reality. He also reveals a little "cameo" that few seem to have noticed along the way; listen during the final airport scene.


• Theatrical Trailer (480i; 2:18)

Liar Liar Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.