Liar Liar



"Max Reede: My dad? He's... a liar.

Teacher: A liar? I-I'm sure you don't mean a liar...

Max Reede: Well, he wears a suit and goes to court and talks to the judge.

Teacher: Oh, I see! You mean he's a lawyer.

Max Reede: [shrugs]"

Liar Liar is a 1997 comedy starring Jim Carrey.

Lawyer Fletcher Reede is both career-focused and (as his profession demands) an expert in lying. His son Max (Justin Cooper) gets frustrated at him two days in a row (first when he promises to take him to the wrestling... and gets a lot of work to do at the last hour; and then misses Max's birthday party while... well, while his boss Miranda (Amanda Donohoe) is keeping him "busy"). Disillusioned once again, Max wishes while blowing out his cake candles that Fletcher couldn't tell a lie for just one day.

And the wish works. Fletcher is absolutely incapable of saying any lie no matter how big or small, or even asking a question if he knows the answer is going to be a lie, or even deceiving by remaining silent. He quickly finds just how much he really does lie in one day and how much trouble he gets into because of telling the absolute truth...

...on the day that not only Fletcher has one of the most important cases of his life, with defenses built mostly on lies, but Audrey (Maura Tierney), Fletcher's ex-wife (and Max's mom) is interested in moving with her boyfriend to Boston, and bringing Max along! Hilarity Ensues.

If you're looking for the Trope on extremely good liars, see Consummate Liar.

Tropes used include:
"Max: If I keep making this face *makes silly face* will it be stuck that way?
 * Accidental Truth
 * Actor Allusion:

Fletcher: Uh-uh, in fact some people make a good living that way."

"Judge Stevens: I'll have to hear good cause, counsel. What's the problem?
 * Adorkable: Jerry
 * Amoral Attorney: Fletcher, at first.
 * Big Yes: Fletcher belts one out after ... followed immediately by a Big No as.
 * Bittersweet Ending:
 * Brutal Honesty: To his clients, to total strangers, and to himself.
 * Can Not Tell a Lie: Or even refuse to answer a question.
 * Cassandra Truth
 * Cassandra Truth

Fletcher: (strains) "...I! CAN'T! LIE!"

Judge: Commendable, Mr. Reed, but I'm still waiting to hear good cause; do you have one or not?"

"Greta: Mr. Reede, several years ago a friend of mine had a burglar on her roof, a burglar. He fell through the kitchen skylight, landed on a cutting board, on a butcher's knife, cutting his leg. The burglar sued my friend, he sued my friend. And because of guys like you he won. My friend had to pay the burglar $6,000. Is that justice?
 * Casting Couch: Fletcher sleeps with his (female, good-looking) boss in the hope that it'll help his career. His son's birthday wish takes effect at exactly the wrong time...
 * Character Development: Fletcher realizes all his mistakes and becomes more sincere and careful about his relationship with his family (especially with his son) as the movie goes on.
 * Chewbacca Defense: In a cut scene.
 * Cheating With the Milkman: If you listen closely to the "sex tape" you can hear the man Samantha Cole is with say "I have to go clean the pool."
 * Cool Old Lady: Greta, Fletcher's secretary.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Fletcher, indeed.
 * Derailing Love Interests: Averted. Jerry is introduced as a genuinely nice and sweet man who treats Audrey and Max well, and although he doesn't care for Fletcher he's civil to him. When he realizes Fletcher still loves his family and the lengths he'll go to in order to keep them, he lets them go and just lets Audrey know he's there if she changes her mind. The only thing you could really say about him is that he's a bit of a goofball, which Audrey admits he can be sometimes.
 * Did I Just Say That Out Loud: "... I've had better??"
 * Digging Yourself Deeper
 * Disposable Fiance
 * Divorce Is Temporary: Fletcher and Audrey get back together in the final scene. They of course ask their son if he made another birthday wish to cause it.
 * Drives Like Crazy: Fletcher when trying to get home after learning Audrey is going to move. "I'm an inconsiderate prick!"
 * Eureka Moment:
 * As well when Audrey tells Fletcher about what Max wished for the previous night.
 * Evil Lawyer Joke: The page quote. And, indeed, the whole film.
 * Exact Words: Fletcher can't use them, but he can be caught by anyone else using them. As it says elsewhere on this page, not only can he not lie, but he can't even evade the truth, deceive while remaining silent or choose not to answer. Several times he gets into trouble because he is asked a question which he could have given a better answer to if the other person had just happened to phrase it differently.
 * When Fletcher calls his boss "a worthless steaming pile of cow dung" he has to add on the tag "figuratively speaking."
 * Best example: "Is that justice?!"
 * Face Fault: Only Jim Carrey can get away with doing one and make it look funny.
 * False Reassurance: He does manage to pull this off once, though. In order to get an extension on the trial without lying he beats himself up in the bathroom, stumbles into the court and truthfully describes his attacker (himself).
 * First Father Wins
 * Flipping the Bird: "Here's your raise!"
 * Freudian Slip
 * Frivolous Lawsuit: Fletcher's current case isn't one (although it is fraudulent), but he isn't against taking cases like this:

Fletcher: No! [Beat] I'd have got him ten."

"Fletcher: "105 pounds! Yeah... in your BRA!"
 * Gag Boobs: Fletcher's interactions with his new neighbour, played by Krista Allen, who is best known for the Emmanuelle In Space series. And of course, Mrs. Cole being played by Jennifer Tilly doesn't hurt...
 * Gasshole: "It was me!"
 * Gold Digger
 * Head Desk
 * Heel Realization: "Lemme tell you somethin'! I'm a bad father! ... I mean... I'm a bad father..."
 * Hilarious Outtakes: It's a Jim Carrey movie. What else would you expect?
 * "Mrs Cole! .... A goose!"

Appleton (opposing lawyer): "Your Honor, I object!"

Fletcher: "You would!"

Appleton: "Overactor!""

"Swoosie Kurtz: Your Honor, I object!
 * Hurricane of Euphemisms: "You slammed her! You dunked her donut! You gave her dog a Snausage! YOU STUFFED HER LIKE A THANKSGIVING TURKEY!" [Makes gobbling noises]
 * Ignoring By Singing: Fletcher knows he is cursed to speak the truth when answering a question, but not if he can't hear the question!
 * The Immodest Orgasm: Mrs Cole, revealed by her "sex tape".
 * Inflationary Dialogue
 * Insult To Injury: A passerby giving Fletcher money as he sags despondently on the courthouse steps following his self-inflicted beatdown.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
 * Large Ham: The outtakes even have this exchange:

Carrey: You would!

Kurtz: Overactor!

Carrey: JE-ZE-BEL!!!"

"Officer: You know why I pulled you over?
 * Followed by Kurtz pointing to someone off-camera (Tom Shadyac, the director), saying he put her up to it, and Carrey hugs her, mugging hammily, "Oh no! They're on to me!"
 * Long List: When Fletcher is stopped after reckless driving...

Fletcher: Depends on how long you were following me! [winces]

Officer: Why don't we just take it from the top?

Fletcher: [sighs] Here goes...I sped, I followed too closely, I ran a stop sign, I almost hit a Chevy, I sped some more, I failed to yield at a crosswalk, I changed lanes at the intersection, I changed lanes without signaling while running a red light and speeding!

Officer: Is that all?

Fletcher: [groaning] No... [gestures with his eyes; when the cop doesn't get it, says] I have unpaid parking tickets. [Opens his glove compartment and there are so many tickets they spill out; whimpers] Be gentle."

"Fletcher: This is one of those 24-hour curses.
 * Madness Mantra: THE PEN IS B THE PEN IS B
 * Magical Realism: How the birthday wish came true is never explained. It seems it just sometimes happens in the movie's world.

Greta: Yeah, those've been going around."

"Fletcher: After all that, your husband wants to deny you a fair and equitable share of the marital assets based on one single act of indiscretion.
 * Make a Wish: The film's Applied Phlebotinum.
 * Motor Mouth: See Long List.
 * My God What Have I Done
 * No Indoor Voice: Pretty much any of Fletcher's pronouncements after the realization sets in, but maybe most famously: STOP BREAKIN' THE LAW, ASSHOOOOOLE!
 * Off On a Technicality:
 * Organ Autonomy: THE CLAW!
 * Penultimate Outburst
 * Principles Zealot: Essentially, this is the result of the wish--Fletcher is an unwilling zealot, admittedly, but his behavior matches a classic comedic Principles Zealot pretty closely.
 * Punctuated for Emphasis: "I! CAN'T! LIE!"
 * Racefor Your Love: Interesting version - it's a father's love for his son that's being raced for here.
 * Really Gets Around:

Mrs. Cole: Seven.

Fletcher: Pardon me?"

"Max: If I keep making this face (makes a face) will it get stuck that way?
 * Really Seventeen Years Old:
 * Refuge in Audacity: Fletcher's immediate boss learns of his current problem and takes him to the firm's board meeting where he regretfully tells everyone the honest truth of what he thinks of them. They end up in stitches laughing, loving the no-holds barred roasting.
 * Required Secondary Powers: In a way, and for plot purposes. Not only does he have a truth-telling "superpower", but he also seems to be incapable of holding back the truth that is on his mind and spits it right out. For instance when he's pulled over by the police Fletcher seems incapable of reserving his 5th amendment right to stay silent, or simply say "yes" when asked if he knows why he was pulled over. (See "Long List" above for a quote from the scene).
 * He also learns, to his horror, that he can't ask witnesses in court rehearsed questions if he knows they're going to lie. And he demonstrates a zig-zagging inability to not tell the direct truth -- he never tells the judge he's ill but then talks as if he is, but when asked if he can proceed with the trial after his "mugging", he says yes instead of simply stating he'd prefer not to.
 * Sarcastic Confession: When forced to tell the senior partners what he really thinks of them, he saves himself from near-certain firing when the chairman thinks he's being roasted and starts laughing.
 * Self Deprecation / Lampshade Hanging:

Fletcher: Not in a million years--in fact, some people make a good living that way."

"Fletcher: Your honor, I object!
 * Also qualifies as Actor Allusion and Hypocritical Humor.
 * Spit Take: Reede does a rather epic one right before his That Was Objectionable moment.
 * Stealth Insult: See Sarcastic Confession.
 * Taking the Kids
 * That Was Objectionable:

Judge: And why is that, Mr. Reede?

Fletcher: Because it's devastating to my case!

Judge: Overruled.

Fletcher: Good call!"

"Audrey: You forget that when we were married, I wasn't having sex nearly as often as you were."
 * Tongue Tied
 * Truth Serum
 * The Unfair Sex: Parodied. Jennifer Tilly's character Really Gets Around, but Fletcher convinces her that she was "driven into the arms of another man." Meanwhile, he's pretty much lost his son as a result of his own infidelity.


 * Volleying Insults: The scene in the Large Ham quote.
 * When You Coming Home Dad
 * Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Fletcher beats the everliving crap out of himself in the bathroom so that the court session could be postponed. When asked who did it, he describes the assailant--himself--as "A madman, your honor! A desperate fool on the end of his pitiful rope!" Still, Fletcher's scheme fails when he's forced to admit that he still feels physically able to continue with the case.