LIAR LIAR (52)

Directed by: Tom Shadyac

Starring: Jim Carrey, a bunch of irrelevant supporting actors

The Pitch: After his son makes a magic birthday wish, a slimy lawyer is unable to tell a lie for 24 hours.

Theo Sez: For all the hysteria he inspires - both pro and con - Carrey is in fact a first-rate comic in a fairly straightforward mould, the grand old (mostly American) movie tradition of manic face-pulling, going back well beyond the commonly-cited Jerry Lewis to (at least) the 40s movies of Danny Kaye and Red Skelton. The difference is mostly that Kaye made jokes about Russian baritones with hay-fever whereas Carrey makes jokes about farts and erections (plus of course that Kaye's movies weren't rammed down our throats in near-simultaneous worldwide release by an implacable marketing juggernaut). This high-concept vehicle is sketchy - there's very little beyond the main idea - and often sticky, Carrey's family-friendly act of atonement for the too-dark CABLE GUY ("The sacred status accorded to father-son bonding in 90s movies reflects (a) the neglected childhoods of Hollywood writers or (b) the guilt felt by said writers over sucking up to producers at parties all night every night and never getting to spend any time with their kids." Discuss. ) It isn't much of a movie, but it's a fine comic routine cum one-man show, and an excellent showcase for the star's talents - the bold, trippy energy that's the only thing his romantic rival in the movie, however nice and Al Gore-like, doesn't have. Can you really, under all the circumstances, ask for more?