Jim Carrey's work in Liar, Liar is the greatest comedic performance of the last 50 years.

Let's start with this - the the movie, as written, is average. It's made up of an idea with potential - the semi-neglected son (Max Reed) of a self-absorbed, dishonest lawyer (Fletcher Reede, played by Carrey) makes a wish that his father can't tell a lie for one day - but doesn't create characters that are particularly interesting or novel. There's not much in the way of unique interpersonal or situational conflict being mined for laughs (other than with his boss Miranda), the dialog isn't particularly clever, and the heart of the story is delivered in a somewhat ham-fisted way.

This is important, because Jim Carrey carries this movie so far above what he's given to work with. In other words, this is not the case of an actor benefiting from a funny script or talented co-stars to play off of. This isn't Bill Murray benefiting from a tight script and talented, familiar SNL costars in Ghostbusters, or Will Ferrell given free reign to ad-lib with quality comedians in Talladega Nights or Anchorman. This is Lebron James or Allen Iverson dragging otherwise average teams to the NBA Finals. His work here is transcendent, carrying a film to greatness that has no right being there.

Ironically, his most normal character of this phase of his career was the best fit for his insanity. Mostly, Jim Carrey movies of the mid/late 90's were the same - everyone around weird guy plays it straight while he goes off the rails. But what separates Liar, Liar from his performances in Dumb and Dumber, Ace Ventura, Cable Guy, etc... is that Fletcher Reede is basically a normal person. He's not an over-the-top clown. The physical comedy Carrey uses here is in service to a character that feels human. The set up allows for all of his buffoonery to make sense because he's engaged in a war with himself. This allows him to play it however he wants without looking like he's mugging for random laughs (such as when he talks with his butt in Ace Ventura).

If you've seen the movie, you know some of the more iconic, over-the-top scenes - "The Pen is Blue," "Kicking my Own Ass!," and the Board Roast, to name a few. And those are main exhibits of what he's doing here - the first two are pure Jim Carrey, ones I can't imagine any other comedian pulling off at the same level he did because of his gift for physical comedy. And the Board Roast is very funny as well, but interesting not because of the lines he delivers but the way he delivers them - his observations of his coworkers are actually not very clever, and the humor here relies instead on the great setup and stellar energy and acting on Carrey's part to help gloss over what are relatively standard insults.

But what makes the movie and performance so great are the little moments sprinkled all the way through. For example, when Fletcher calls his ex-wife to tell her he can't pick up Max, the way he delivers the "having sex!" line is laugh-out-loud funny because his delivery is so pitch-perfect (again, character being controlled by magical force to tell the truth). It's hard to imagine any other performer pulling this off. Or being dragged out of the courtroom screaming "I'm Jose Canseco," or "I have unpaid parking tickets."

When he does "The Claw," we understands what Max sees in his disappointing father. Even simple things like him spitting out his water are done with such effortless perfection that it's really easy to overlook how damn good he is in this film. I really wish that it got more respect in posterity, because what was put into that movie was an insanely elite comedic performance that has really no equal.

Submitted August 02, 2020 at 09:49AM by FunetikPrugresiv https://ift.tt/3jZ7phg