--- title: "Liar Liar: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/liar-liar/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/liar-liar" critics_score: 71 critics_reviews: 14 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Liar Liar (1997): what the critics said Critics' score 71 from 14 reviews: 12 positive, 0 mixed, 2 negative. Most critics like Liar Liar, and mostly for Jim Carrey. The reviews agree that the premise, a lawyer who cannot lie for a day, is built to suit his physical and vocal contortions, and that Tom Shadyac’s direction consists largely of pointing the camera at him. Several call it a return to form after The Cable Guy, and a few notice a more human side beneath the mania. The reservations cluster on the plot around the performance. Many find the story formulaic and the father-and-son material sugary, with Variety complaining that the final reel lays the sentiment on too thick. Two reviews dissent outright. The New Yorker thinks the film loses its nerve, calming down after an energetic middle and wasting the disorder the premise promises, while The AV Club finds it a Disney comedy with crude jokes added and Carrey’s excess more tiring than funny. Otherwise the spread is narrow; nobody sits on the fence. ## The Hollywood Reporter — Duane Byrge Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 21 March 2017. The critic praises Jim Carrey's performance and Tom Shadyac's direction for blending farce with heart in this comedy about a lawyer forced to tell the truth. It highlights the film's appeal to a wide audience and its warm-spirited merriment. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/liar-liar-review-jim-carrey-1997-movie-987633/) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 2 May 1997. A blessed relief and possibly Carrey's best, most consistently funny film yet after The Cable Guy, thanks to a witty script and energetic performance that makes the most of the nice(ish)-guy role. It is a fast-paced, original comedy and hugely entertaining Saturday night out, slicker and funnier than most current releases. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/liar-liar-review/) ## Radio Times — Jason Caro Rating 4/5. The critic calls it a hilarious comedy and praises Carrey's frenzied physical and vocal contortions for providing amusing and riotous moments. The role is seen as tailor-made for his antics while also allowing a more human side to emerge. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-6s0cj2/liar-liar/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 21 March 1997. Carrey delivers tireless manic comic energy in a high-energy family comedy that combines slapstick for kids with innuendo for adults. The director mostly plants the camera to watch Carrey go bananas as a physical comedian. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/liar-liar-1997) ## The Independent — John Lyttle Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 30 April 1997. The critic finds the film a better week for boy fantasies and extravagantly funny, with Carrey relatively controlled yet sustaining a virtuoso display of derangement in key scenes. The script leans on a sentimental families-need-fathers message but delivers when Carrey cuts loose. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/also-showing-1259022.html) ## Empire — Darren Bignell Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2013. Carrey's reunion with Shadyac delivers more laughs and less irritation than recent work, with the truth-telling premise providing strong arenas for his performance while supporting cast gets breathing space. Family scenes turn sugary but the film is more than worth a watch and reliably entertaining. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/liar-liar-review/) ## The Guardian — Tom Lamont Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 3 April 2014. It is a formulaic knockabout comedy elevated by an underlying honesty and life lesson about truth-telling. The critic singles out the film's central premise of a compulsive liar forced to tell the truth for one day as the source of both its comedy and deeper resonance. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/apr/03/my-guilty-pleasure-liar-liar) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 21 March 1997. Jim Carrey transforms a formulaic comedy into an uproarious one-man free-for-all with wild and funny results. The film is less sloppy and more middle-of-the-road than Shadyac's previous Carrey outings. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/21/movies/the-truth-shall-set-you-free-not.html) ## Los Angeles Times — Steven Smith Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 16 March 1997. Carrey plays a pathological liar whose world collapses when forced to tell the truth for 24 hours, delivering cathartic honesty in a classic comedy premise turned on its head. The timely subject resonates after high-profile trials involving shaded truth. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-03-16-ca-38676-story.html) ## Time Out — TJ Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The critic finds the premise rudimentary but notes that it reins in Carrey's over-exuberance to deliver likeable, effective mainstream comedy. The film is described as predictable yet solid entertainment. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/liar-liar) ## Variety — Todd McCarthy Rating **. 22 March 1997. A surefire commercial comedy that is awfully funny at times and calculated to hit mainstream demographics, with Carrey's physical contortions providing high hilarity. The script lays on emotional goo too thick in the final reel. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/liar-liar-1200449159/) ## The AV Club — Keith Phipps Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 29 March 2002. The critic finds the premise suited to Carrey but the film lacking, comparing it unfavorably to Disney comedies with added crude jokes, and notes Carrey's over-the-top performance fails to make it fully enjoyable. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/liar-liar-1798195751) ## The New Yorker Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 24 March 1997. The premise is sophisticated but the film calms down after an energetic middle patch, reducing the hero to therapeutic statements. Shadyac directs as if making mud pies, missing the disorderly possibilities of the honesty premise. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/03/31/1997-03-31-106-tny-cards-000153877) ## Eye for Film — Stephen Carty Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 5 August 2010. The critic sees the film as a one-man showcase for Jim Carrey’s shouty, motormouth antics that plays to all his strengths as a return to form after The Cable Guy. The father-son plotline is occasionally moving, though the over-the-top style will depend on one’s taste for Carrey’s zany comedy. [Read the review](http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/liar-liar-film-review-by-stephen-carty) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/liar-liar.md