Jason Shephard (Frankie Muniz)
lies for the fun of it. Jason loses an important story
assignment entitled 'Big Fat Liar' in movie producer Marty
Wolf's (Paul Giamatti) limo, which Wolf then turns into a film.
When Jason sees a movie preview of his story, he and best friend
Kaylee (Amanda Bynes) go to Los Angeles to make Wolf confess to
using Jason's story as well as to clear Jason's name and to get
him out of having to attend summer school. The teen liar then
has to match wits with Wolf, who also turns out to be a big
liar.
Big Fat
Liar
is proof that a movie does not have to be drenched with gross
humor to exist. I thought this film was refreshingly sarcastic,
boisterously entertaining, extremely funny and an unexpected
surprise for a family movie.Big Fat Liar exceeded
my expectations. I anticipated a conventional made for TV movie
instead the film delivered so much more.
The
Video
Big
Fat Liar
appears in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame on this
single-sided, double-layered DVD. Unfortunately, Universal
decided not to extend the widescreen version of this film in
it’s orginal 1.85:1 dimension, however for those of you who have
your heart set on having the 16x9 enhanced widescreen version of
this film there are distributors out who have them for sale.
All in all
the movie looked terrific, with very few problems. Sharpness was
immaculate throughout the film. The picture appeared
consistently crisp and detailed, jagged edges presented no
concerns, and the print used also appeared clean. Colors looked
natural.
The film
used a life-like palette, coming across realistic and clear,
with no problems related to noise or bleeding. Black levels were
by the same token rich and deep, and shadow detail appeared
appropriately thick but never heavy. In its entirety, I found
BFL to offer a satisfying visual experience.
The
Audio
Big
Fat Liar is
presented in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS soundtrack; I found
the two tracks to seem similar but the DTS track seemed to have
a little more kick. Not surprisingly, the soundfield presented a
strong emphasis on the forward channels, which offered a
reasonably ample and engaging spectrum of audio.
The front
speakers showed nicely localized effects and a little dialogue,
and the music displayed excellent stereo separation, all of
which blended together fine. Audio quality seemed excellent.
Dialogue consistently appeared natural and distinct, with no
signs of edginess. Effects were clean and realistic, and they
displayed good dynamic range as well.
The
soundtrack worked best of all, as the score seemed bright and
vivid, and it offered nice, tight bass. Ultimately, the
soundtrack appeared distinct and it was typical for this type of
film.
The
Extras
Here's the rundown:
-An 11-minute "Spotlight On
Location" promo featurette
-14-minutes worth of deleted
footage
-Trivia challenge
-Big Fat Liar interactive game
-Universal Studios Back lot
interactive map
-"Spyro" game trailer
-Theatrical trailer
-Production notes
-Cast/crew bios
-Recommendations
-DVD-ROM
features
Overall
Overall, I thought Big Fat
Liar was a lovable film. The movie boasted a good lead
performance from Muniz, Giamatti, and Bynes. The DVD offers a
satisfying visual experience
and a typical
track for this type of film coupled with a reasonably solid
addition of extras. Fans of Muniz, Giamatti and Bynes will
likely enjoy this film. Highly recommended.
