From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Big Fat Liar
Big Fat Liar film poster
Directed by	Shawn Levy
Produced by	Brian Robbins Dan Schneider
Written by	Dan Schneider Brian Robbins
Starring	Frankie Muniz Paul Giamatti Amanda Bynes
Music by	Christophe Beck Douglas Romayne (source music)
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	8 February 2002 (USA)
Running time	88 min.
Language	English
Budget	US$15,000,000

Big Fat Liar (stylized as big FAT liar) is a 2002 American teen comedy film directed by Shawn Levy, written by Dan Schneider and Brian Robbins, and starring Frankie Muniz, Paul Giamatti and Amanda Bynes.

Plot summary

Jason Shepherd (Frankie Muniz), a 14-year old student living in the fictional town of Greenbury, Michigan, is an incorrigible liar and a con artist. When his English teacher, Ms. Phyllis Caldwell (Sandra Oh), assigns her class a creative writing essay, Jason does not complete it. His parents are later called into school, where Ms. Caldwell tells Jason that if he can't bring her a handwritten essay at the community college by 6:00, she will not consider it a valid contribution.

After remembering that his father told him that "making up stories appears to [his] God given talent", Jason finally writes a story entitled "Big Fat Liar", a take on how he lies all the time. Now finished, he rides his sister's old bicycle and collides with the limousine of an arrogant Hollywood producer named Marty Wolf (Paul Giamatti), whereupon Jason blackmails Wolf into giving him a ride to school. During Jason's ride, Wolf reveals he is also a liar and con man, but a more professional one than Jason. When the limousine reaches the college, Jason hastens out of the limo, not realizing that he has dropped his essay behind. Wolf is about to give it back to him, when he sees that the story is excellent, and decides to keep it.

Upon his entering school, Jason realizes that he does not have the essay. Neither his parents nor Ms. Caldwell believe him when he claims to have written it, and he is therefore ordered to undergo summer school. Later, Jason and his best friend Kaylee (Amanda Bynes) found out that Wolf has plagiarized Jason's composition by making his film Big Fat Liar. When Jason's parents and older sister leaves town for a summer holiday, Jason and Kaylee use their savings to fly to Los Angeles in order to confront Wolf, leaving a local bully named Brett to attend Kaylee's absent-minded grandmother after Jason bribed him by promising to do Brett's summer school homework for him. At the studio, Jason tricks the receptionist into leaving her post to allow Jason to speak with Wolf. Wolf agrees to return the essay, but suddenly burns it and has Jason removed from his office.

In response to the incident, Jason and Kaylee plan to inconvenience Wolf until he admits to having stolen Big Fat Liar. Taken to Wolf's house by limo driver Frank Jackson (Donald Faison), an actor formerly mistreated by Wolf, they add blue and orange dye to Wolf's pool and shampoo, giving him blue skin and orange hair. Kaylee, impersonating the studio president's secretary, sends Wolf to a child's birthday party, to get vengance for an elderly employee of Wolf whom he criticized, who wanted to take his granddaughter to the same party. There, Wolf is mistaken for a clown and attacked by the children present. Meanwhile, Jason and Kaylee modify the controls to Wolf's convertible, causing various controls to perform the incorrect function and playing the song "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" by Eiffel 65, resembling his blue skin. Struggling to control his convertible, Wolf stops just behind a monster truck, but is then rear ended by a vengeful old lady, who he had insulted earlier, which causes him to crash into the monster truck, therefore causing the truck's driver to destroy his car in anger.

As a result of these pranks, Wolf misses his appointment with Marcus Duncan (Russell Hornsby), president of the studio. Wolf later meets Duncan at a party celebrating the premiere of another film Whittaker and Fowl, which proves to be a box office failure. Duncan distrusts Wolf to create anything better and tells him that all the funding for Big Fat Liar will be withdrawn unless Wolf can convince him otherwise. Duncan also warns him that should any mishap occur during production, the film and Wolf's career will be terminated. Jason agrees to help Wolf in exchange for a confession of the truth to Jason's father. Wolf, guided by Jason, makes a successful presentation, but betrays Jason yet again as he calls his guards and has Jason and Kaylee removed a second time, but this time for good. Jason and Kaylee are told by the head of security Rocky that they will be forced out of Hollywood, cover up the incidents they caused and be sent back to their hometown in disgrace.

Jason is about to accept defeat and prepares to be forever humiliated and disbelieved in his hometown when Wolf's secretary Monty Kirkham (Amanda Detmer) appears after dismissing Rocky, who was keeping an eye on the duo, and states that because many of Wolf's co-workers and employees (including herself, Jaleel White, the old employee, and others) have been abused by Wolf, they are willing to help Jason and Kaylee take revenge. Together, they all devise a plan by which to do so. By now, Wolf has removed or concealed the blue color of his skin.

En route to the studio, Wolf falls into several traps organized by his former co-workers, such as skydiving out of a helicopter piloted by veteran stunt coordinator Vince (Lee Majors) and getting soaked from the Universal Studios Hollywood flash flood backlot prop. Upon arriving at the studio, bedraggled and desperate, he finds that Jason has taken his beloved toy chimpanzee, Mr. Funny-Bones hostage. He pursues Jason until they reach a climactic rooftop confrontation wherein Wolf admits to stealing Jason's story, thinking they are alone. Immediately, it is revealed that he has been filmed throughout the confession with multiple cameras. As a result, he is exposed and shamed before all those whom he has abused, including Duncan, who is outraged at Wolf for his act of plagiarism, and from a kid, nonetheless. Wolf attempts to kill Jason and chases, but Jason then runs off the side of the building and is caught by an inflated crash pad. Duncan fires Wolf, while Jason and his parents re-establish their trust. Jason thanks Wolf for having taught him that "the truth (as he tells Wolf, in a reverse of his own advice) is not overrated". The film Big Fat Liar is later re-produced and shown in theatres nationwide, utilizing the talents and skills of all those whom Wolf had abused. During the closing credits, Jason is credited for having written his original story.

In the film's climax, Wolf started his job as a clown, for which his role he is assigned to entertain the son of the monster truck's driver whom he insulted. Recognizing him, the driver orders his son: "Yo, Little Mash, show him your nutcracker!", a newly-learned prizefighting technique as a means of avenging the earlier offense. He delivers a striking blow to Wolf's groin, rendering him incapacitated.

Cast

• Frankie Muniz as Jason Shepherd, the protagonist of the film. He is a pathological liar in the early stages of the film, but when his paper gets stolen, he goes to great lengths to clear his name.
• Paul Giamatti as Marty Wolf, an arrogant Hollywood producer and the film's antagonist. When he and Jason first meet, he decides to turn Jason's essay into a movie, but eventually gets his comeuppance when he is publicly humiliated and fired. He also has a stuffed monkey named Mr. Funnybones, which he talks to fairly often.
• Amanda Bynes as Kaylee, Jason's best friend who helps him in his efforts to prove his innocence.
• Amanda Detmer as Monty, Wolf's assistant who eventually turns against him because of his actions.
• Alex Breckenridge — Janie Shepherd, Jason's older sister.
• Rebecca Corry — Astrid Barker
• Donald Faison — Frank Jackson, a limo driver and actor who was previously fired by Wolf, and helps Jason and Kayley in their plan to destroy Wolf's fame.
• Jaleel White — Himself-Often called Urkle (because of his reputation of playing the character with the same name in the TV series Family Matters) by Marty Wolf. (uncredited)
• Sandra Oh — Mrs. Phyllis Caldwell, Jason's English teacher.
• Russell Hornsby — Marcus Duncan, the director of the studio that Wolf works for. He is very strict when it comes to his job, and threatens to have Marty Wolf Pictures shut down unless Wolf himself can pitch Duncan his next movie. In the film's climax, he fires Wolf after discovering his act of plagiarism.
• Michael Bryan French — Harry Shepherd, Jason and Janie's father.
• Christine Tucci — Carol Shepherd, Jason and Janie's mother.
• Lee Majors — Vince
• Sean O'Bryan — Leo
• Amy Hill — Joscelyn Davis
• John Cho — Dustin 'Dusty' Wong.
• Taran Killam — Brett, a skateboard punk who consistently bullies Jason. At one point, Jason bribes him to spend time with Kayley's Grandma Pearl while Kayley and Jason are in Hollywood.
• Jake Minor — Aaron.
• Sparkle — Grandma Pearl, Kayley's diminutive grandmother.
• Ted Rooney — Summer School Teacher.
• Michelle Griffin — Shandra Duncan
• Shawn Levy — Wolf Party Guest.
• Kenan Thompson as a partygoer.
• Dustin Diamond as a partygoer.
• John Gatins as Masher, a monster truck driver.

Trivia

• The Disney Channel removed all insignias pertaining to Coca-Cola to avoid lawsuits, as well as censoring the labels on the bottles of liquor in Marty's office (although this may have also been to avoid complaints from viewers).
• Marty Wolf offers to Jason Shepherd that he will tell his (Jason's) father that Jason not only wrote "Big Fat Liar", but also Saving Private Ryan, a movie wherein Paul Giamatti starred.
• Marty Wolf makes reference to child star Jaleel White's character on the 90's sitcom Family Matters.
• Most of the movie was filmed in the Universal Studios Backlot. The crew also sneaked onto the set of The Scorpion King and shot some footage while that film's crew was away.
• Dan Schneider, the screenwriter for this film, also created Nickelodeon shows such as The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, and iCarly.
• The film takes a strong reference/allusion to Aesop's fable The Boy Who Cried Wolf in its naming of the protagonist and villain.
• Movie actor Adam Sandler and director Steven Soderbergh are mentioned as acquaintances to Marty Wolf.
• In the studio warehouse, the DeLorean time machine from Back to The Future is seen, along with what appears to be the costume Jim Carrey wore for How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and many animatronics from the Jurassic Park (franchise). Some figurines of E.T. The Extraterrestrial are also seen in the warehouse, reminding Kaylee of Grandma Pearl.
• In the scene when Marty Wolf is about to be 'crushed' by the monster truck, the famous music from Jaws can be heard.
• The rims on Marty Wolf's car after it got run over are different from the ones it had before.
• When the movie first aired on Cartoon Network, one of the deleted scenes were added.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews, gaining a "Rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes of 44 percent.^[1] Some critics praised the film as energetic and witty; others called it dull and formulaic. Nevertheless, it grossed $47 million at the box office. This film was rated PG for some language.

References

External links

• Big Fat Liar at the Internet Movie Database