Throwback Thursday - Big Fat Liar (2002)
Hey guys, Chuck here. This week for Throwback Thursday, we'll be looking at a Universal Studios film that, due to two of the film's lead stars as well as the writer and producers of the film, was highly marketed by Nickelodeon, a TV network that was owned by Paramount Pictures' parent company, Viacom International. This is the 2002 teen comedy that everyone over the age of 24 fondly remembers as a modern classic: Big Fat Liar.
Big Fat Liar focuses on 14-year-old chronic liar Jason Shepherd, played by Frankie Muniz, who after getting caught in one of his lies by his parents and his English teacher, is given one last chance to work on, and turn in, a creative writing assignment and avoid going to summer school. After writing a story, called "Big Fat Liar," Jason then hurries to the community college to get his essay turned in on time. Unfortunately, he is forced to ride his sister's bicycle, as a bully named Bret stole his skateboard at the start of the movie. Double-unfortunately, Jason runs into the side of a limo that is headed for a movie shoot happening in town. The producer of the film, Marty Wolf, played by Paul Giamatti, agrees to give Jason a ride to avoid facing a possible whiplash lawsuit. Jason, after spilling a lot of paperwork out of his backpack, explains how he got caught in a "dad choked on a meatball" lie, and Marty gives him tips on how to lie better (such as forging a doctor's note and change it from "dad choked on a meatball" to "sister choked on a chicken wing"), before letting Jason out with this tip: "The truth: it's overrated." Marty tries to Jason to give him his essay back, but upon looking at it further, decided to use is as the basis for a new movie. Marty then arrives to the set of his new film "Whitaker and Fowl," starring Jaleel White as a police officer working alongside of a crime fighting chicken. Okay, just writing those words raises soooo many questions, like who the hell thought it was a good idea to make a buddy cop movie with Jaleel White co-starring with a chicken? Was 2002 the year of the chicken or something? I-- you know what? Let's just move on.
Jason, due to no one believing his story, despite it being the truth, now has to attend summer school, where we see a total square of a geek teacher giving a dull, and totally going nowhere, lecture on the semicolon. At the movies, Jason and his best friend Kaylee, played by Amanda Bynes, are watching the trailers, when a trailer pops up for an upcoming movie with a title very familiar to Jason: "Big Fat Liar." Jason realizes that Wolf kept his essay, and is using it to base a movie on without giving Jason credit for the idea. Jason, who's parents are away on a trip for their anniversary, plans to fly to LA with Kaylee to get Wolf to confirm that Jason did write the "Big Fat Liar" essay and was telling the truth the whole time. Wolf, however, is not having it and burns the essay with a match, lit cigar, and vodka, and promptly has security throw Jason out of the building. Staying in one of the storage houses on the Universal lot, Jason and Kaylee plan to monitor Wolf's daily routine, and find ways to mess with him until he agrees to call Jason's dad. The two also befriend a limo driver named Frank Jackson, played by Donald Faison, who was Wolf's driver until asking to audition for one of his upcoming films. Wolf responded by, and pay attention here, taking Frank's headshot, writing "Loser" across his forehead, and faxing the picture to every casting director in Hollywood. Okay, this, and seeing the way Wolf treats his subordinates, pretty much shows us one simple fact: Marty Wolf is the biggest dickhead in Hollywood.
After a day of surveillance, Jason and Kaylee head to Wolf's house the next morning and fill his pool with blue dye, put orange dye in his shampoo bottle, and super glue on the earpiece for his cell phone. Wolf, after a swim and shower, sees his blue self in the mirror, and I'm not gonna lie, his reaction is the funniest thing in the movie. Seriously, look it up on YouTube, it's pretty damn hilarious. Kaylee, using the address for a house where a kid's birthday party is happening, sends Wolf to the wrong address for a meeting with new Universal studio president Marcus Duncan, played by Russell Hornsby. After Wolf arrives at the party, and gets mistaken for a birthday clown, all the kids at the party beat living shit out of Wolf. Meanwhile, Jason and Kaylee rewire Wolf's car, which ironically is also blue (just follow me here, there's a payoff in a minute). Wolf, after realizing his car is messed up, while his stereo is blaring out Eiffel 65's "Blue (Da Ba Dee)," is confronted by Jason, who tells Wolf that the pranks will stop when Wolf calls Jason's dad. After getting bumped into the back tires of a monster truck, driven by monster truck driver "The Masher," Masher drives his truck and completely destroys Wolf's car, forcing him to miss his second meeting with Duncan. The tow truck driver, played by John Gatins, looks at Wolf and says "They told me to pick up a little blue car. They didn't say anything about a little blue man!" And yes, that line was in all of the trailers and TV spots for this movie, and it's still pretty damn hilarious.
Wolf arrives at the premiere for the "Whitaker and Fowl" movie, and star Jaleel White, while giving an interview on the red carpet, is quickly overshadowed by his animal co-star. Seriously, Jaleel White gets brushed off by an interviewer in favor of a damn chicken. Jason, unable to sway Wolf at this point, heads to the after party at Wolf's house, where many actors and filmmakers say that "Whitaker and Fowl" sucked. Duncan himself, who is at the party with his wife, tells Wolf that his "Sorry excuse of a movie" cost the studio a lot of money, and he was pulling the plug on "Big Fat Liar." Wolf then gets another chance to get "Big Fat Liar" made, but ha no idea what to pitch to Duncan. Jason and Kaylee arrive, and he agrees to help Wolf in exchange for Wolf calling Jason's dad. Wolf, following Jason's words up to a certain point, pitches a new twist for "Big Fat Liar" to an enthusiastic crowd, and get the green light on the movie from Duncan, who warns him that "If anything goes wrong, this movie, your deal with the studio, and your career are done." Wolf then makes it seem like he's calling Jason's dad, only to reveal that he actually called his head of security Rocko Malone. Rocko takes Jason and Kaylee back to the storage warehouse on the Universal lot, and tells them that in the morning, they will fly back to Michigan and forget any of the past few days even happened. Jason, finally giving up, calls his parents to tell them where he is and what he's been up to. Meanwhile, Wolf's assistant Monty, played by Amanda Detmer, arrives to send Rocko home, and offers to get together everyone whose been abused by Wolf over the years to help Jason and Kaylee mess with Wolf and get him to admit the truth.
The next morning, after careful planning by Jason and Kaylee, Frank arrives to drive Wolf to the set, only to fake a breakdown of his limo. Suddenly, Jaleel arrives in a sports car, gives Wolf a ride, and drops him off in the middle of the desert. After who knows how long in the desert, stunt coordinator and Vietnam Vet Vince, played by Lee Majors, picks Wolf up in a helicopter, fakes a rotor jam, and jumps out of the helicopter with Wolf in hand. Frank, meanwhile, goes to the airport and picks up Jason's parents. Wolf arrives to the Universal lot, only to be confronted by Jason, who has Wolf's prized stuffed monkey Mr. Funnybones. After a chase all across the studio lot, Wolf finally catches Jason and admits to his plagiarism, shouting at the top of his lungs "I stole Jason Shepherd's paper and turned it into 'Big Fat Liar!'" After the director of "Big Fat Liar," Dusty, played by a pre-Harold & Kumar and Star Trek John Cho, calls cut and reveals that Wolf was being filmed the entire time, and the press, Duncan, and Jason' parents were there to see it all. Duncan, finally fed up with Wolf's behavior, removes him from the picture, costing him his job as a film producer. Jason, finally earning his dad's trust back, parts from Wolf with a lesson that he learned throughout the ordeal: "The truth: it's not overrated."
Some time later, Jason, Kaylee, and Jason's parents attend the world premiere for "Big Fat Liar," which still got made but with Monty as the film's producer. The movie gets a standing ovation, with Frank, having starred in the film as Kenny Trooper, and Jason, getting the credit he deserved, getting the biggest reactions, including from Jason's teacher. Wolf, meanwhile, got a new job as a birthday clown, and is at a party for the son of a familiar face: the Masher. Masher's son, who he calls "Little Masher," then charges at Wolf and gives him a well-deserved kick in the nuts, ending the movie.
Okay, Big Fat Liar is the very definition of a teen comedy for the generation of kids and teens who were growing up watching shows on Nickelodeon. And in my opinion, it's still one of director Shawn Levy's best films to date. The story, which is greatly inspired by Aesop's fable of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, does act as a cautionary tale about how one's lies will eventually work against them, whether it's Jason not being believed by his parents when he's finally telling the truth, or Wolf when he's finally caught for lying about where the story for his newest film came from. Frankie Muniz, who was on top of the world at the time for starring on the TV sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, is terrific here, and I gotta say, this is probably my favorite performance of his. Amanda Bynes, who was at the peak of her popularity because of Nickelodeon shows like All That and The Amanda Show, was also a lot of fun to watch here, and putting her in a movie with Frankie was a smart move to market this movie to kids who watched their shows all the time. Paul Giamatti, who I was less familiar with at the time, was also great as Marty Wolf, and honestly, his performance here made me a fan of his almost instantly to the point where I got excited when he was cast in 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as the Rhino. Supporting performances by Jaleel White, Russell Hornsby, Donald Faison, Sandra Oh, and so on were also great, and yes, this movie also made me a Donald Faison fan. Again, I can't stop praising this movie for how creative it is, and how memorable the performances are, especially with Frankie Muniz and Paul Giamatti. Producers Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins, as well as screenwriter Dan Schneider and director Shawn Levy, made a great film that kids of my generation still enjoy to this day. Sadly, the movie is not available on Blu-ray yet, but with the film's 20th anniversary just two years away, hopefully Universal will get it out there. It is, last I checked, streaming on Netflix, so definitely give it a watch. Big Fat Liar gets, from me, a rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off. Se you guys next time.
Big Fat Liar focuses on 14-year-old chronic liar Jason Shepherd, played by Frankie Muniz, who after getting caught in one of his lies by his parents and his English teacher, is given one last chance to work on, and turn in, a creative writing assignment and avoid going to summer school. After writing a story, called "Big Fat Liar," Jason then hurries to the community college to get his essay turned in on time. Unfortunately, he is forced to ride his sister's bicycle, as a bully named Bret stole his skateboard at the start of the movie. Double-unfortunately, Jason runs into the side of a limo that is headed for a movie shoot happening in town. The producer of the film, Marty Wolf, played by Paul Giamatti, agrees to give Jason a ride to avoid facing a possible whiplash lawsuit. Jason, after spilling a lot of paperwork out of his backpack, explains how he got caught in a "dad choked on a meatball" lie, and Marty gives him tips on how to lie better (such as forging a doctor's note and change it from "dad choked on a meatball" to "sister choked on a chicken wing"), before letting Jason out with this tip: "The truth: it's overrated." Marty tries to Jason to give him his essay back, but upon looking at it further, decided to use is as the basis for a new movie. Marty then arrives to the set of his new film "Whitaker and Fowl," starring Jaleel White as a police officer working alongside of a crime fighting chicken. Okay, just writing those words raises soooo many questions, like who the hell thought it was a good idea to make a buddy cop movie with Jaleel White co-starring with a chicken? Was 2002 the year of the chicken or something? I-- you know what? Let's just move on.
Jason, due to no one believing his story, despite it being the truth, now has to attend summer school, where we see a total square of a geek teacher giving a dull, and totally going nowhere, lecture on the semicolon. At the movies, Jason and his best friend Kaylee, played by Amanda Bynes, are watching the trailers, when a trailer pops up for an upcoming movie with a title very familiar to Jason: "Big Fat Liar." Jason realizes that Wolf kept his essay, and is using it to base a movie on without giving Jason credit for the idea. Jason, who's parents are away on a trip for their anniversary, plans to fly to LA with Kaylee to get Wolf to confirm that Jason did write the "Big Fat Liar" essay and was telling the truth the whole time. Wolf, however, is not having it and burns the essay with a match, lit cigar, and vodka, and promptly has security throw Jason out of the building. Staying in one of the storage houses on the Universal lot, Jason and Kaylee plan to monitor Wolf's daily routine, and find ways to mess with him until he agrees to call Jason's dad. The two also befriend a limo driver named Frank Jackson, played by Donald Faison, who was Wolf's driver until asking to audition for one of his upcoming films. Wolf responded by, and pay attention here, taking Frank's headshot, writing "Loser" across his forehead, and faxing the picture to every casting director in Hollywood. Okay, this, and seeing the way Wolf treats his subordinates, pretty much shows us one simple fact: Marty Wolf is the biggest dickhead in Hollywood.
After a day of surveillance, Jason and Kaylee head to Wolf's house the next morning and fill his pool with blue dye, put orange dye in his shampoo bottle, and super glue on the earpiece for his cell phone. Wolf, after a swim and shower, sees his blue self in the mirror, and I'm not gonna lie, his reaction is the funniest thing in the movie. Seriously, look it up on YouTube, it's pretty damn hilarious. Kaylee, using the address for a house where a kid's birthday party is happening, sends Wolf to the wrong address for a meeting with new Universal studio president Marcus Duncan, played by Russell Hornsby. After Wolf arrives at the party, and gets mistaken for a birthday clown, all the kids at the party beat living shit out of Wolf. Meanwhile, Jason and Kaylee rewire Wolf's car, which ironically is also blue (just follow me here, there's a payoff in a minute). Wolf, after realizing his car is messed up, while his stereo is blaring out Eiffel 65's "Blue (Da Ba Dee)," is confronted by Jason, who tells Wolf that the pranks will stop when Wolf calls Jason's dad. After getting bumped into the back tires of a monster truck, driven by monster truck driver "The Masher," Masher drives his truck and completely destroys Wolf's car, forcing him to miss his second meeting with Duncan. The tow truck driver, played by John Gatins, looks at Wolf and says "They told me to pick up a little blue car. They didn't say anything about a little blue man!" And yes, that line was in all of the trailers and TV spots for this movie, and it's still pretty damn hilarious.
Wolf arrives at the premiere for the "Whitaker and Fowl" movie, and star Jaleel White, while giving an interview on the red carpet, is quickly overshadowed by his animal co-star. Seriously, Jaleel White gets brushed off by an interviewer in favor of a damn chicken. Jason, unable to sway Wolf at this point, heads to the after party at Wolf's house, where many actors and filmmakers say that "Whitaker and Fowl" sucked. Duncan himself, who is at the party with his wife, tells Wolf that his "Sorry excuse of a movie" cost the studio a lot of money, and he was pulling the plug on "Big Fat Liar." Wolf then gets another chance to get "Big Fat Liar" made, but ha no idea what to pitch to Duncan. Jason and Kaylee arrive, and he agrees to help Wolf in exchange for Wolf calling Jason's dad. Wolf, following Jason's words up to a certain point, pitches a new twist for "Big Fat Liar" to an enthusiastic crowd, and get the green light on the movie from Duncan, who warns him that "If anything goes wrong, this movie, your deal with the studio, and your career are done." Wolf then makes it seem like he's calling Jason's dad, only to reveal that he actually called his head of security Rocko Malone. Rocko takes Jason and Kaylee back to the storage warehouse on the Universal lot, and tells them that in the morning, they will fly back to Michigan and forget any of the past few days even happened. Jason, finally giving up, calls his parents to tell them where he is and what he's been up to. Meanwhile, Wolf's assistant Monty, played by Amanda Detmer, arrives to send Rocko home, and offers to get together everyone whose been abused by Wolf over the years to help Jason and Kaylee mess with Wolf and get him to admit the truth.
The next morning, after careful planning by Jason and Kaylee, Frank arrives to drive Wolf to the set, only to fake a breakdown of his limo. Suddenly, Jaleel arrives in a sports car, gives Wolf a ride, and drops him off in the middle of the desert. After who knows how long in the desert, stunt coordinator and Vietnam Vet Vince, played by Lee Majors, picks Wolf up in a helicopter, fakes a rotor jam, and jumps out of the helicopter with Wolf in hand. Frank, meanwhile, goes to the airport and picks up Jason's parents. Wolf arrives to the Universal lot, only to be confronted by Jason, who has Wolf's prized stuffed monkey Mr. Funnybones. After a chase all across the studio lot, Wolf finally catches Jason and admits to his plagiarism, shouting at the top of his lungs "I stole Jason Shepherd's paper and turned it into 'Big Fat Liar!'" After the director of "Big Fat Liar," Dusty, played by a pre-Harold & Kumar and Star Trek John Cho, calls cut and reveals that Wolf was being filmed the entire time, and the press, Duncan, and Jason' parents were there to see it all. Duncan, finally fed up with Wolf's behavior, removes him from the picture, costing him his job as a film producer. Jason, finally earning his dad's trust back, parts from Wolf with a lesson that he learned throughout the ordeal: "The truth: it's not overrated."
Some time later, Jason, Kaylee, and Jason's parents attend the world premiere for "Big Fat Liar," which still got made but with Monty as the film's producer. The movie gets a standing ovation, with Frank, having starred in the film as Kenny Trooper, and Jason, getting the credit he deserved, getting the biggest reactions, including from Jason's teacher. Wolf, meanwhile, got a new job as a birthday clown, and is at a party for the son of a familiar face: the Masher. Masher's son, who he calls "Little Masher," then charges at Wolf and gives him a well-deserved kick in the nuts, ending the movie.
Okay, Big Fat Liar is the very definition of a teen comedy for the generation of kids and teens who were growing up watching shows on Nickelodeon. And in my opinion, it's still one of director Shawn Levy's best films to date. The story, which is greatly inspired by Aesop's fable of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, does act as a cautionary tale about how one's lies will eventually work against them, whether it's Jason not being believed by his parents when he's finally telling the truth, or Wolf when he's finally caught for lying about where the story for his newest film came from. Frankie Muniz, who was on top of the world at the time for starring on the TV sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, is terrific here, and I gotta say, this is probably my favorite performance of his. Amanda Bynes, who was at the peak of her popularity because of Nickelodeon shows like All That and The Amanda Show, was also a lot of fun to watch here, and putting her in a movie with Frankie was a smart move to market this movie to kids who watched their shows all the time. Paul Giamatti, who I was less familiar with at the time, was also great as Marty Wolf, and honestly, his performance here made me a fan of his almost instantly to the point where I got excited when he was cast in 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as the Rhino. Supporting performances by Jaleel White, Russell Hornsby, Donald Faison, Sandra Oh, and so on were also great, and yes, this movie also made me a Donald Faison fan. Again, I can't stop praising this movie for how creative it is, and how memorable the performances are, especially with Frankie Muniz and Paul Giamatti. Producers Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins, as well as screenwriter Dan Schneider and director Shawn Levy, made a great film that kids of my generation still enjoy to this day. Sadly, the movie is not available on Blu-ray yet, but with the film's 20th anniversary just two years away, hopefully Universal will get it out there. It is, last I checked, streaming on Netflix, so definitely give it a watch. Big Fat Liar gets, from me, a rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off. Se you guys next time.
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