[CrapOnAStick]

Movie: "Big Fat Liar"
Year: 2002
Rated: PG
Genre: Comedy
Director: Shawn Levy
Writer: Dan Schneider
Reviewer: CaptHayfever
Plot: The story of a Shepherd boy who lies so much that no one believes him when the Wolf comes along, forcing the boy and his best friend to make Wolf's life a living nightmare.

Review: Excellent, highly underrated movie that's great for people of all ages.

(Notice I didn't say it's great for EVERYONE. No movie is great for everyone.)

Jason Shepherd (Frankie Muniz, aka Malcolm) is a compulsive liar. He sets up a complicated lie about his dad being in the hospital to get out of an English assignment. Dad finds out, lie falls apart, Jason has 3 hours to write the story.

He finishes just in time and starts rushing to school, but--BOOM!--he hits a limo. Inside the limo is producer Marty Wolf (Paul Giamatti), who takes Jason to school.

BUT-- the story falls out of the backpack in the car!

Wolf picks it up, reads a little, and drives off, while Jason gets stuck going to summer school.

(If this review seems a little choppy & fast-paced, it's because the movie is fast-paced & a little choppy too.)

That summer, Jase sees a preview for a movie based on his story, and he realizes what happened. The problem? His parents don't believe him. So Jason and his best friend Kaylee (Amanda Bynes) sneak away to Hollywood to make Wolf admit his plagerism.

And so begins one of the best movies out of a year that had so many good ones to choose from. Big Fat Liar is fine family filmmaking that's actually appealing to the WHOLE family.

In fact, the only real downside to this flick is a semi-cheesy ending scene, which luckily is canceled out by a comic relief closing.

Frankie Muniz became famous with his intentionally over-the-top performance on Malcolm in the Middle. Here he plays a similar character, but with far more subtlety and understatement, wich makes sense, as the people Jason decieves are far more intelligent than the ones Malcolm manipulates.

Muniz does great with the role and deserves kudos. There, I just gave him the kudos, you don't have to bother. You've also seen Frankie in "My Dog Skip", and a couple Dis-flicks.

Amanda Bynes, however, deserves far more than just kudos, delivering the best performance in the movie as platonic best friend Kaylee. As a matter of fact, the best friend role was originally a boy, but the script was rewritten as soon as Amanda was considered for the movie, and there was much rejoicing. In BFL, Bynes is able to showcase several of her strong points, including variable voice, improvisation, facial expression, and sheer energy. Kaylee has most of the best lines in the film, many of which were ad-libbed by Amanda.

For more Amanda Bynes, watch "What I Like About You" Fridays on the WB, reruns of "The Amanda Show" Saturdays on Nickelodeon, and her next movie "What A Girl Wants" opening April 4. Also check out www.amandabynesnow.com because it's an excellent site.

Paul Giamatti delivers the 2nd best performance in the film as Marty Wolf. Giamatti's intentionally outrageous portrayal of Wolf was a brilliant decision, making the character absolutely loathsome, just as he should be.

Giamatti can also be seen as Bob Zmuda in "Man on the Moon", as well as many other parts in a variety of films.

Great supporting cast here, with Amanda Detmer (Drop Dead Gorgeous) as Monty, Donald Faison (Scrubs, Remember the Titans) as Frank, Lee Majors (The $6 Million Man) as Vince, and Jaleel White (Urkel of Family Matters) as himself.

Shawn Levy's feature-film debut is an excellent example of the greatness a first-timer is capable of. And anyone who doesn't know the hilarity Dan Scheider is capable of creating needs to, well, to watch more Dan Schneider stuff.

The BFL DVD has some awesome extras on it, too. Like:

-Amanda Bynes guiding you through the menus

-Deleted scenes

-Bloopers

-Excellent commentary by Shawn Levy & DP Johnathan Brown

-Mediocre commentary by Frankie Muniz

-Theatrical trailer

-Showtime "Spotlight on Location" special

-Honesty quiz

-and some other stuff!

Go buy this movie, because renting only lasts a week.

Overall Rating: 9

Honestly, who the hell rents a movie for kids and tell people who don't give a shit? Not me [/i]