Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

I was in a discussion with one of my coworkers about the best comedies. He came up with Liar Liar as his favorite of Jim Carrey's movies (he had not seen Bruce Almighty, one of my favorite by Jim Carrey.) I had only seen bits of it and wasn't impressed but I trusted his opinion and decided to give it a try and I watched the movie from beginning to end. Well, after seeing it I officially disagree with him. I just did not think it was that funny. Funny in parts? Yes. But a comedy needs to be both entertaining and funny all the way through and this movie just did not do that for me.

Jim Carey Stars as a dirty lawyer that everyone loves to hate. He is successful, charismatic, and funny. And a big flake. He puts his job before his son and that gets him in a lot of trouble in this movie. This is because his son makes a wish on his birthday that his father cannot tell a lie for 24 hours. Let the mayhem commence.

The acting is average in my opinion. No real star power (other than Jim) or anything amazing in this department. Jim Carrey is actually fairly reserved in this movie compared to his earlier work. Apparently he responded to the criticism that his brand of humor was too childlike. The other actors were just average. Now this is not a bad thing, it is not like they were bad actors. I didn’t cringe or gag at their bad lines. There wasn’t any George Lucas written moments (refer to Star Wars 3 love scene moment), so there is nothing I can really complain about; but then again there is nothing that stands out either.

The character building is average. Meaning it isn't all that good. You get to know the characters well enough in the first 15 minutes to know them at a superficial level. Just enough to get the movie rolling. You do not get to know what really drives these characters, what they are really passionate about, what they love, what really hurts them, why the lead character is a workaholic, or why the two lead characters are divorced. No real deep questions are answered. You are required to fill in the blanks on your own.

The pacing is good. The story keeps flowing, at the expense of the character building and back story. I would have to say that is a good decision. This is a comedy, not a deep movie. So a lot of information is not necessary. Laughs are.

But does it have a lot of laughs? Some, just not a lot. This is a movie that is probably better to watch with friends on a Friday night after a long week at work. I’m sure alcohol would make it funnier too. For me it was funny in parts, but more tragic than funny. I felt sorry for the lead character half the time. He just kept getting knocked down, getting back up, and getting knocked down again. It was just plain sad. So at times there was supposed to be a laugh, I just didn’t feel like laughing at his misery.

Now if you like laughing at someone else’s misery then this is definitely a movie for you. Then I can see this movie as being pretty darn funny. And yes tragedy can be funny.

Replay value isn’t there for me. I have no intention of watching this again. If I was at someone’s house and they put it on I would be courteous and watch it with them, it wasn’t that bad. But I would not watch it again if I had a choice or if I was in my own home.

Key players
Director: Tom Shadyac
Screenplay: Paul Guay, Stephen Mazur

Rated:PG-13

Ratings
Yahoo users: B
Pooled Critic's ratings: B

Released in 1997

Summary
A decent comedy especially if you like laughing at someone else’s tragedy. As a comedy goes, it isn’t my taste and not one I care to see again. Funny in spots but not all the way through.

Other Comedies.
My 10 favorite comedies
Spaceballs
Groundhog Day

Recommended: No