"Big Fat Liar"-- A Film for the Kid in All of Us

Everyone who is human has told their share of little white lies. However, it's that story we were all told as a child about the little boy who cried wolf that keeps us from telling the big ones-- you know, the ones we don't think we could ever get out of. It's this premise that sets up the story for Universal Pictures' "Big Fat Liar," a film that, despite it's PG-rating, both kids and adults can relate to and enjoy.

"Big Fat Liar" is the story of Jason Shepherd ("Malcolm in the Middle" star Frankie Muniz), a 14-year-old whose biggest talent is his ability to lie. However, the same skill that has gotten him out of numerous sticky situations ends up being the skill that gets him in over his head when Hollywood producer Marty Wolf (Paul Giamatti) steals his school paper and no one believes him. Determined to prove to his parents that he's telling the truth, Jason travels to Hollywood with his best friend Kaylee (Nickelodeon's Amanda Bynes) to try and get Marty to call his father and admit that his new summer blockbuster came from the mind of a 14-year-old. When he doesn't call though, Jason declares war to not only get back the rights of his story, but to prove once and for all that sometimes the world's greatest liar has the ability to be honest, too.

While the average college student may not see a family-orientated film like "Big Fat Liar" unless they are dragged to it by their little sister or brother, older audiences will be pleasantly surprised by how mature the film is. Screenwriter Dan Schneider (Dennis from the old TV show "Head of the Class") writes a smart family comedy that never dumbs itself down for its youngest viewers. Granted there are a couple of scenes that may seem a bit too childish for a teenage audience-- one montage of Jason and Kaylee spending the night in the Universal prop warehouse in particular runs way too long-- but for the most part these scenes are limited and intended to keep the youngest audiences members in their seats (and it works). For the most part though, the humor in the movie works on numerous levels so that there is something for everyone, with some scenes in particular targeted directly towards a late teen/early twenty audience. In fact, in two of the funniest scenes in the film, former TV icons Dustin Diamond and Jaleel White (better known to millions as Screech and Urkel) make brief but memorable appearances as themselves. Any film that can incorporate not one but two of TV's most famous nerds gets my vote of approval.

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