Tom Shadyac

Most of the movie is pretty hilarious, and I would have given this a higher rating if not for the extremely tasteless plot point that revolved around a trans person. LGBT jokes were peppered through a fair amount of 90's movies, and even if they didn't age well, they were funny back then (within the context of the movie and time) However, the trans thing in this movie was NOT funny back then and is just pure cringe now, how the hell did someone think that made a good story/plot point?

The movie's a mixed bag -- as one would perhaps expect from the premise. As is typical with any wish-fulfillment film, the so-called problems the protagoist face upon getting his wish aren't really problems at all, and could easily be fixed with the powerset he's been given. But the jokes are frequently decent, and Carrey's performance is typically charming enough to intermittently distract me from the Swiss cheese plot. Aniston's also managing to be much more lovable and charming than I show more could possibly expect from the very bland 2D girlfriend part she's given, and Freeman is, of course, great casting for the deity. The usually amazing Carrell, however, is utterly wasted as a workplace nemesis so forgettable I had forgotten he was even in this movie (in spite of being the star of the movie's sequel). The premise is also horribly undersold, with Carrey's privileged life not being in any way grounds for the amount of whining he does (this is of course part of the point, but it is still cringeworthily inane to look at a character who cares enough for others to defend a besieged homeless man in one scene, and then claim God has it out for _him_ in the next because he didn't get a promotion).

In the end, it is a predictable story with predictable flaws. But when the movie's not falling into the trite moralism or too encumbered by inane plotholes, it has charm and even warmth, and frequently gets a chuckle out of me. So I can't bring myself to be too hard on it. There can definitely be situations where I'd be OK with rewatching this again -- Carrey's too fun for anything else. And the film has certainly got a pleasant feel-good quality that's tough to achieve even for much more polished films with much fewer issues. show less

Not a bad movie. I get that God was trying to teach Bruce about walking in someone else's shoes and all that and Bruce gave a good go at trying to be God, but it's been about 20 years since this movie came out and I'm more jaded and cynic. There's some fun parts of this film and some lessons to be learned, but it's obvious Bruce was set up to fail because, reasons, and I never liked that because that was pretty much the set up of the story of Eden and the forbidden fruit.

Often you watch a movie many many years after remembering how funny it was, and you end up disappointed more often than not. But Liar Liar is still funny after all these years. No one does roles like this as well as Carrey, and his ex-wife (Tierney) and son (Cooper) are believable as they suffer through his constant broken promises. Elwes is wasted as Tierney's boyfriend. His character is completely cardboard. Some of the supporting characters fare better, but things are typically show more overplayed. Donahoe, for instance, is in one of her typical man-eating roles, and she deserves a bit more. But it all doesn't matter when we see Carrey struggling to tell a lie while his mouth just won't cooperate! show less