Liar Liar (1997)

A grown lawyer beats himself up in a courthouse bathroom to stall a trial, and it’s the hardest Jim Carrey has ever worked for one laugh. That’s Liar Liar in miniature: the comedy is enormous and the story wrapped around it is tiny. A boy makes a birthday wish, Dad can’t lie for a day, and nobody bothers explaining the rules. Maura Tierney gets stuck as the frowning ex, and Cary Elwes plays her new boyfriend, a decent guy the movie mocks for being decent. The airport finale, with Carrey chasing a plane on a hijacked stair truck, is pure cartoon. But Carrey’s face does things faces shouldn’t do. The boardroom scene, where he insults every partner and they laugh like it’s a roast, still kills. It’s a tight 86 minutes, and the opening-night CinemaScore came back an A minus. A 6.6 because Carrey is a one-man special effect and the heart came off a card rack. $1,886 says the next time you text ’on my way’ from the couch, you feel a tiny Jim Carrey guilt spasm.

What works: Jim Carrey’s physical comedy is relentless, and the boardroom roast and the bathroom brawl are two of the best scenes of his career.

What doesn’t: The father and son story is thin and predictable, and the movie gives Maura Tierney and Cary Elwes almost nothing real to play.

Who it’s for: Anyone who grew up quoting Jim Carrey and wants a short, silly comedy that still mostly lands.