Big Fat Liar (2002)
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The story
Jason Shepherd, a 14-year-old compulsive liar in Greenbury, Michigan, is tasked with a creative writing assignment to avoid summer school. He writes a story titled "Big Fat Liar" based on his own experiences. While attempting to turn it in, he is struck by a limousine driven by Marty Wolf, an unscrupulous Hollywood producer. Jason accidentally leaves his essay in the limo, and Marty keeps it for himself to develop into a film. After being sent to summer school for the loss of his work, Jason and his friend Kaylee travel to Los Angeles to confront Marty and demand he confess to his parents.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Jason Shepherd, a 14-year-old compulsive liar in Greenbury, Michigan, writes a story titled "Big Fat Liar" to avoid summer school. While riding his sister's bike, he is hit by a limo driven by Marty Wolf, an arrogant Hollywood producer. Jason leaves his essay in the limo, and Marty steals it to make a movie. After Jason is sent to summer school, he and his friend Kaylee travel to L.A. to confront Marty. They begin a campaign of elaborate pranks to inconvenience Marty, including dyeing his skin blue, supergluing his headset, and tricking him into a children's birthday party. Marty's production of Whitaker and Fowl fails, and he faces pressure from Universal Pictures to produce Jason's story. Jason offers to help Marty in exchange for a confession to his parents. After Marty reneges on the deal, Jason calls his parents to tell them the truth. The next morning, Marty's employees delay him at the studio. When he finally arrives, Jason steals Marty's stuffed monkey, Mr. Funnybones, and leads him to a rooftop. Marty boasts of his actions, unaware the conversation is being broadcast to Jason's parents, the media, and the studio president. Marcus Duncan fires Marty for dishonesty and plagiarism. Jason leaps safely onto a stunt cushion and reunites with his parents. Universal produces the film with the talents of Marty's mistreated employees, and Jason receives full credit. Marty ends up working as a birthday clown named "Wolfie the Clown."
- First release year
- 2002
- Runtime (minutes)
- 88
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Shawn Levy
- Writers
- Dan Schneider · screenplay; Dan Schneider · story; Brian Robbins · story
- Cast and characters
- Frankie Muniz · Jason Shepherd; Paul Giamatti · Marty Wolf; Amanda Bynes · Kaylee; Amanda Detmer; Donald Faison; Lee Majors; Russell Hornsby
- Genres
- adventure; comedy; teen
- Themes
- revenge; honesty; filmmaking
- Tone and mood
- comedic; slapstick; energetic
- Premise and plot tags
- revenge; pranks; theft; filmmaking
- Source material / true-story basis
- Aesop's Fable The Boy Who Cried Wolf
- Franchise connections
- Bigger Fatter Liar
- Reception
- The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics, with some praising its energy and others finding it formulaic. It was a commercial success, grossing $53 million on a $15 million budget.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 45% · review count: 93; Metacritic · score: 36 · scale: 100 · review count: 24
- Production trivia
- The film was filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood with sets from The Scorpion King visible.; The DVD release contains an unlockable cheat code for Spyro 2: Season of Flame.; The exotic Intermec 6651 Handheld PC appears as the computer used by Lester Golub.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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