MinistryofDoom It may have been my rose colored glasses, but I remember seeing this movie back when it first released. At the time I was a kid but I fondly remember thinking that Frankie Muniz and Amanda Bynes were awesome. Sixteen years later, I watched this movie again only this time with my wife. I expected her to find humor in the same funny bits that I chuckled at like a madman back when I was a kid. She didn't. Here review as the credits rolled were simply this: "its big stupid movie." Perhaps, but it's still a mildly enjoyable film even though the luster it once had has long since worn off. The basic plot is this: a kid who's known for lying and weaseling his way out of doing homework assignments is forced to write an essay or else he fails. Lo and behold, he commits himself and writes it only to have it end up in the hands of a big time Hollywood Producer (Giamatti) who is also a big fat liar in his own nefarious two-timing ways and plans to turn the essay into a film. Hence the adventure begins as Frankie Muniz and Amanda Bynes rush off to Hollywood (without anyone noticing that a couple of teenagers disappeared mind you) to reclaim the essay paper during which slapstick comedy and hilarious pranks unfold.Paul Giamatti is still a big name in Hollywood but Amanda Bynes and Frankie Muniz are nowhere to be found. They haven't really done much since this film in 2002. So, it's actually a little sad that this film is sort of like their unofficial swan song. Still, we can always look back and laugh at Paul Giamatti dying himself blue......

Lee Eisenberg Shawn Levy's "Big Fat Liar" is just a funny movie. It knows exactly what kind of movie it is. Anyone watching it will have to agree that it would be fun to get to do what Jason (Frankie Muniz) and Kaylee (Amanda Bynes) do. I have no doubt that Paul Giamatti enjoyed getting to play the slimy producer who becomes the target of the kids' pranks.However, some other things caught my eye all now that I've seen the movie over a decade after its release. Shawn Levy went on to direct the "Pink Panther" remake and the "Night at the Museum" movies. "Big Fat Liar"'s cast includes some people who got notable roles in later years. Russell Hornsby (the producer's boss) now plays Det. Griffin on "Grimm". Alexandra Breckenridge (Jason's sister) played supporting roles on the first and third seasons of "American Horror Story". Sandra Oh (Jason's teacher) co-starred in "Sideways". John Cho (the director) went on to play half of the stoner duo in the "Harold & Kumar" movies and later played Sulu in the "Star Trek" reboot. Taran Killam (Bret) is now a "Saturday Night Live" cast member. All this and Frankie Muniz has pretty much disappeared. He was the star of "Malcolm in the Middle" back then, but can anyone name his most recent credit? Meanwhile his "MitM" co-star Bryan Cranston went on to gain acclaim for "Breaking Bad".Anyway, it's a fun movie. The blue dye is the famous scene, but there's a lot more in store. Overall, the movie is a reminder that, yes, it's best to be honest. In the meantime, it's a pleasure to watch all the pranks get played out.

Steve Pulaski I've been making something of a mental checklist to revisit movies from my childhood that I was supposed to see when I was roughly seven or so but evaded in favor of more obscure pictures that I really wasn't supposed to watch at that age. Such films are The Lizzie McGuire Movie, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, the two Agent Cody Banks films, and many others that strike a nostalgia chord with me solely because they came out right around the time I was immersing myself in film.Shawn Levy's Big Fat Liar is a film I watched as a young child in pieces. I'd watch and digest maybe twenty minutes at a time - over the course of several months - before I could say I saw the entire film. Sitting through it today, in its eighty-seven entirety, it is not the immature affair I expected it to be. In fact, it's kind of spirited and lively, to the point where I find myself replaying sequences in my head, ones I didn't laugh at before, and now silently giggle at their geniality and the silliness they employ.One particular scene comes later in the film, where Paul Giamatti's character has already been manipulated unconditionally by Frankie Muniz and Amanda Bynes to the point where he is ready to call the day quits entirely. He gets in his beautiful, expensive car, only to discover all of his gadgets and functions have been rewired. The brake is the horn, the turn signal is the radio, etc. While Giamatti is pressing random buttons and twisting/turning random gizmos in his car, hoping in vein something works, his radio blasts the infectious song "I'm Blue" by Eiffel 65 and angers other drivers around him. The scene is so goofy and unexpected that the only rational response is to laugh and embrace the current situation.I'll catch you up; Jason Shepherd (Frankie Muniz) is a fourteen year old boy, known by his family and teacher as a pathological liar who enjoys dreaming up ways to get himself out of trouble. One day, he doesn't write his English paper on time, so is given a time extension, which he utilizes efficiently to write a semi-autobiographical story called "Big Fat Liar." He races to school on his sister's bright pink bike (the bullies stole his skateboard), and crashes into the limousine of Marty Wolf (Paul Giamatti), a cocky, wealthy movie producer. He reluctantly agrees to give Jason a ride, but Jason finds, after spilling the contents of his backpack in Wolf's limo, he left the essay in the company of Wolf.Wolf, currently in a career slump with failure after failure, reads "Big Fat Liar," loves it, and decides it deserves a film-counterpart on the big screen. Without Jason's approval or consent, Wolf hurries the film into production, leaving Jason understandably upset and cheated. He decides, in an act of desperation, him and his close friend Kaylee (Amanda Bynes) will pack up their things and head out to California to get Wolf to admit to his parents that he stole the idea from him in an attempt to earn back his parents trust.In summation, Jason and Kaylee pretty much make Wolf's life a living hell, first by putting blue dye in his pool water and orange dye in his shampoo, giving him the appearance of a ginger-Smurf. They continue to manipulate him with torturous actions, like the one I wrote about above, hoping Wolf will crack and admit his wrongdoing. They team up with other actors-turned-employees for the arrogant producer, who relish the thought of exacting revenge on him for his terrible treatment of coworkers.This kind of plot is the perfect definition of "serviceable." It doesn't look to offend, provides maybe a good, healthy laugh or too, and then allows you to go about your day with almost nothing to further contemplate or feast on. There's good and bad to that; in a world where the bar for children's films have been raised by the likes of Pixar, something like Big Fat Liar isn't necessary in their cinematic diet. The film was written by Dan Schneider, who has been the driving force behind nearly every teen-sitcom on Nickelodeon. Big Fat Liar plays almost identically to an episode of, say, Drake and Josh. Some jokes are funny, some fall flat, and you're left with an average episode that wasn't a burden but not an explosive winner.Muniz and Bynes, however, have great chemistry, and there are unfortunately a depressing shortage of their gracious performances today, which is kind of a shame. The two had careers that seemed to end before they started, especially Muniz, who seemed to be disposed-of by the public after Malcolm in the Middle came to a close and Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London was released. The real performance to watch here, on the other hand, is Giamatti's, who is extremely funny and off-the-wall as a venomous movie producer, who may in fact just be nicer than real Hollywood producers. His transcend into lunacy and madness, especially in the third act, is wonderful and is played off effectively thanks to great comic-timing and spirit on his part.Big Fat Liar is not a film I'd recommend to adults. No one over ten will express much interest in seeing the film, but for the brave souls who do, for nostalgic reasons or curiosity reasons, the film is at least smart enough to show you a good, marginally-creative time. There's a pleasantly kind soul to its roots and an entertaining series of events that unfold, even if you're expecting them.Starring: Frankie Muniz, Amanda Bynes, Paul Giamatti. Directed by: Shawn Levy.

KingFarticus Big Fat Liar was a very cheesy but good comedy film. It was about a 14 year old kid Jason Sheperd,who as he is riding to school bumps into a limo which coincidentally happens to be the one where the famous(but not really famous)movie producer,Marty Wolf. And as Jason gets out of the limo in which he asked for a ride to school in,his paper slips from his backpack and doesn't notice. Later Jason finds out that Marty stole and read Martys paper titled "Big Fat Liar",and makes it into the summers biggest must-see movie. Later Jason makes a series of events in trying to convince his mom and dad(who thinks he is a liar)that he wrote "Big Fat Liar". This series of pranks includes turning Marty blue,and dying his hair orange! In my opinion there was a few bits of funny scenes in this film. I would recommend this for kids who like movies such as "Agent Cody Banks",and "Alvin and the Chipmunks". So I would rate it a good 6 out of 10 stars.