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After watching this movie however, I find that I no longer want to write this review, for if I do I’ll have to discard all my pre-viewing witty jabs, and replace them with the admission that I thought this was really cute.
Frankie Muniz (TV’s Malcolm in the Middle) stars as Jason Shepard, and watching him I couldn’t help but think his fourteen year old crusader was a slightly less polite version of his young genius television persona. Luckily, in this case it works. He’s got an earnestness to his portrayal, but falls behind in abilities when compared to others in his age range, like Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense, Pay it Forward). Still Muniz does have a definite onscreen charm, bringing a level of his TV Malcolm’s intelligence to Shepard making his turn seem a bit more adult. Amanda Bynes (in her feature film debut) stars as Jason’s best friend Kaylee, who accompanies him to Los Angeles on the search for the rogue film producer. Sadly, the script demotes her from co-conspirator, to little more than scenery. Something I would like to see more of in films for this age group are roles that embody strength and smarts in the younger female characters. Bynes does do quite a lot with the little character development she has to work with, giving her part so much sparkle that I would have quite enjoyed seeing her given more to do. Paul Giamatti (Planet of the Apes, (2001) Man on the Moon) plays the evil movie producer Marty Wolf. Watching him revel in every moment he has onscreen I can’t help but wonder if the Home Alone series might have been more watchable if Giamatti had been involved. His Hollywood bigwig is nearly cartoonish; a perfect sort of villain for this type of movie. The big problem Big Fat Liar faces is poor marketing. I suspect the executives in all their brilliance decided to target their promotional spots directly at their intended ten to fourteen year old viewing audience. I have a bit of news for them..... Parents of the ten to fourteen year olds are the ones paying the admission prices. If we don’t laugh at your previews, no amount of cajoling will get us through the theatre door. Instead of showing Marty Wolf dyed blue in the ads, why not give us some shots of the cameos of people like the marvellous Sandra Oh (Double Happiness) or the six million dollar man himself; Lee Majors. Why not even one or two of the genuine laughs the movie has to offer? Big Fat Liar is genuinely loveable but without a revamped ad campaign, we’re all going to troupe down to the theatre down the hall and watch Harry Potter again.
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Big
Fat Liar is the story of Jason Shepard , a notorious liar with the
reputation of being able to wiggle his way out of anything. On the way
to hand in a paper that will save him from months of summer school, Jason
is struck by a limo containing big shot Hollywood producer; Marty Wolf
and manages to leave the important assignment behind in the car. When Jason’s
piece of work gets turned into the script for next summer’s big blockbuster
movie, Jason sets out to Los Angeles for revenge