Liar Liar
(HD-DVD)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: C- Film: C-
Ever
wonder when Hollywood tried the impossible alchemy of turning Jim Carrey from
Mr. Grossness to Tom Hanks? It happened
with director Tom Shadyac, who put him on the map as the outrageous one in his
lame Ace Ventura films. Liar Liar (1997) was this film and
though it was a hit, it did not satisfy the audience as much. The gross-out fans thought it was too light
and mainstream audience who did not like him were not converted. Well, it did better than latter attempts like
The Majestic.
The story
of him as a lawyer who has to tell the truth for 24 hours after making a wish
to be honest on his son’s birthday runs almost 90 minutes, though the premise
as an ironic comedy in a classic half-hour Twilight
Zone about a used car dealer was far superior. The result feels more like an elongated In Living Color skit that does not know
when to end and the use of Eurythmics’ classic Would I Lie To You? In the trailer is as entertaining as anything
in the film. Yawn!
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 VC-1 digital High Definition image looks like an older master and was
likely the one used on the old D-VHS of the film, which has some minor limits
but is watchable. Russell Boyd, A.S.C.,
is a good cinematographer though this film did not require or use any
challenging camerawork or need it. It is
not much above a TV sitcom in its flatness, but that is why it is a commercial
film. The flatness extends to the
dialogue-based sound mix, here in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix. John Debney’s score is as adequate as the
image, but this mix is dated and I wonder if a DTS version would have sounded
that much better.
Extras
include outtakes, deleted scenes, original theatrical trailer, making of
featurette and feature length audio commentary by Shadyac that gets thin very,
very quickly.
- Nicholas Sheffo
