Layer-related jokes are a dime a dozen, and most everyone -- except, perhaps, for such attorneys -- seems to enjoy having a good laugh at their expense. Imagine then, if a fib-prone lawyer suddenly found that he couldn’t lie anymore right in the middle of an important court case that needs such "legal tactics." That’s the fun premise of "Liar Liar."
One of actor Jim Carrey’s better "stage one" performances (the first half of his career before "The Truman Show" and "Man on the Moon" moved him into another league), this was the film that displayed early signs of his upcoming transformation into more serious roles.
Thus, there are plenty of "touchy-feely" moments where Carrey gets to do the "serious," dramatic bit. Of course, they’re completely overshadowed by an even larger abundance of his over the top, zany comedic bits, so if you simply can’t stand his wild physical antics and behavior, you might want to skip this film. His diehard fans, however, won’t want to miss it.
While you don’t have to be a huge fan of his work in pictures such as the "Ace Ventura" films to be entertained by this one, the more you enjoy his style of exaggerated humor, the more you’ll probably find this one to your liking.
Carrey will long be remembered as one of the masters of physical comedy and his rubbery facial gestures, movements and contortionist behavior here are just plain amazing to watch. Reminiscent of Steve Martin in the movie "All of Me" (where half of his body is inhabited and controlled by the spirit of another person), Carrey shows that he can be on screen all by himself and still prove to be utterly hilarious.
Supporting performances from the likes of Maura Tierney, Cary Elwes and Jennifer Tilly are all fine for this sort of movie, but they’re all obviously present just as backdrops and/or serious counterparts to Carrey’s character.
Although the script by Paul Guay and Stephen Mazur isn’t particularly complicated, it does allow for many funny bits to develop from the initial premise and Carrey’s inspired performance completely fulfills all of them. From a scene where his character tells his bosses and coworkers how he really feels about them to another where he tries to force himself and his hand to lie about the color of a pen, the film is filled with plenty of hilarious moments.
If you’re a fan of wild and inspired physical humor and enjoy seeing Jim Carrey do his thing (as good as or better than nearly anyone else), you simply won’t go wrong this DVD. We highly recommend it. As far as the disc itself, both the picture and audio are quite good and this collector’s version has plenty of supplemental material (especially considering that there are no special effects -- other than Jim Carrey -- that usually fill up other titles’ supplements) to please fans of the film.