Big Fat Liar
Encyclopedia
Big Fat Liar is a 2002 American teen
Teen film
Teen films is a film genre targeted at teenagers and young adults in which the plot is based upon the special interests of teenagers, such as coming of age, first love, rebellion, conflict with parents, teen angst, and alienation...

 comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

 directed by Shawn Levy
Shawn Levy
Shawn Adam Levy is a Canadian-American actor, director and producer who directed the comedy films Big Fat Liar, Just Married, Cheaper by the Dozen, The Pink Panther, Night at the Museum, Date Night, and the sci-fi movie Real Steel...

, written and produced by Dan Schneider
Dan Schneider (TV producer)
Daniel James "Dan" Schneider is an American songwriter, actor, writer, and producer of films and television. He is the co-president of his own production company called Schneider's Bakery....

 and Brian Robbins
Brian Robbins
Brian Robbins is an American actor and producer, director and screenwriter. He often collaborates with Mike Tollin.-Biography:...

, and starring Frankie Muniz
Frankie Muniz
Francisco "Frankie" Muniz IV is an American actor, musician, writer, producer, and racecar driver. He is known primarily as the star of the FOX television family sitcom Malcolm in the Middle. In 2003, he was considered "one of Hollywood's most bankable teens". In 2008, he put his acting career...

, Paul Giamatti
Paul Giamatti
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. Giamatti began his career as a supporting actor in several films produced during the 1990s including Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, and Man on the Moon, before earning lead roles in several projects in the...

, and Amanda Bynes
Amanda Bynes
Amanda Laura Bynes is an American actress, comedian, singer, and fashion designer. Bynes appeared in several successful television series, such as All That and The Amanda Show, on Nickelodeon in the mid to late 1990s and early 2000s, and in 2002, she starred in the TV series, What I Like About You...

. The main plot revolves around 14-year-old con artist, Jason Shepherd (portrayed by Muniz), whose story is stolen by arrogant Hollywood producer Marty Wolf (portrayed by Giamatti), who intends to use it to make the film of the same name.

Plot

Jason Shepherd (Frankie Muniz
Frankie Muniz
Francisco "Frankie" Muniz IV is an American actor, musician, writer, producer, and racecar driver. He is known primarily as the star of the FOX television family sitcom Malcolm in the Middle. In 2003, he was considered "one of Hollywood's most bankable teens". In 2008, he put his acting career...

), a 14-year old living in the fictional town of Greenbury, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, is an incorrigible liar and a con artist. When his English teacher, Ms. Phyllis Caldwell (Sandra Oh
Sandra Oh
Sandra Oh is a Canadian actress. She is best known for the role of Dr. Cristina Yang on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, for which she has won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award. She also played notable roles in the feature films Under the Tuscan Sun and Sideways, and had a supporting role on the...

), assigns her class a creative writing assignment, Jason does not complete it. His parents are later called into school, where Ms. Caldwell told Jason that if he can't bring her a handwritten story to the community college by 6 p.m., she will not consider it a valid contribution. After remembering that his father told him that "making up stories appears to be his God-given talent", Jason finally writes a story entitled Big Fat Liar, based on his experiences of how he lies all the time. Now finished, Jason rides his older sister's old bicycle and accidentally collides with the limousine of an arrogant Hollywood producer Marty Wolf (Paul Giamatti
Paul Giamatti
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. Giamatti began his career as a supporting actor in several films produced during the 1990s including Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, and Man on the Moon, before earning lead roles in several projects in the...

), whereupon Jason blackmails Wolf into giving him a ride to school. During his ride, Wolf reveals Jason that he is also a liar and con man, but a more professional one than Jason, however. When the limousine reaches the college, Jason hastens out of the limo, not realizing that he has left his story behind. Wolf initially attempts to give it back to Jason, but when he sees that it is excellent, he decides to keep it for himself.

Upon entering school, Jason realizes that he does not have the story. Neither his parents nor Ms. Caldwell believe him when Jason claims to have written it, and he is therefore ordered to undergo summer school
Summer school
Summer school is a school, or a program generally sponsored by a school or a school district, that teaches students during the summer vacation....

. Later, Jason and his best friend Kaylee (Amanda Bynes
Amanda Bynes
Amanda Laura Bynes is an American actress, comedian, singer, and fashion designer. Bynes appeared in several successful television series, such as All That and The Amanda Show, on Nickelodeon in the mid to late 1990s and early 2000s, and in 2002, she starred in the TV series, What I Like About You...

) found out that Wolf has plagiarized his composition by making his film Big Fat Liar. When Jason's parents and sister leaves town for a summer holiday, Jason and Kaylee use their savings to fly to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 to confront Wolf, leaving local bully Bret Callaway (Taran Killam
Taran Killam
Taran Hourie Killam is an American actor and comedian best known for his television work on shows such as The Amanda Show, Scrubs, Wild 'N Out, MADtv and currently on Saturday Night Live.-Early life:...

) to attend to Kaylee's absent-minded grandmother after Jason bribed him by promising to do his summer school homework for him. After arriving in Los Angeles, Jason and Kaylee trick limo driver Frank Jackson (Donald Faison
Donald Faison
Donald Adeosun Faison is an American actor, comedian, and voice actor best known for his role as Dr. Chris Turk in the ABC comedy-drama Scrubs and as Murray in the film Clueless and the subsequent television series of the same name.Faison has also co-starred in the films Remember the Titans ,...

) into giving them a ride to the studio, where Jason tricks receptionist Astrid Barker (Rebecca Corry
Rebecca Corry
Rebecca Corry is an American stand-up comedienne. She has her own Comedy Central Presents show. She is 4'11" tall.-Filmography:* "Yes Man"...

) into leaving her post to allow him to speak with Wolf about his situation. Wolf agrees to return the story, but intentionally burns it and has Jason and Kaylee removed from his office.

Angered, Jason and Kaylee plan to inconvenience Wolf until he admits to having stolen Big Fat Liar. Frank eventually discovers their true identities and plans, but eventually joins them, as Frank explains that he was an actor formerly mistreated by Wolf. After gathering intel about how he treats his workers, Frank takes Jason and Kaylee to Wolf's mansion, where they add blue and orange dye to Wolf's swimming pool and shampoo, giving him blue skin and orange hair. Kaylee, impersonating the Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

 president's secretary, sends Wolf to a child's birthday party to get vengeance for veteran stunt coordinator Vince (Lee Majors
Lee Majors
Lee Majors is an American television, film and voice actor, best known for his starring role as Colonel Steve Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man and as Colt Seavers in The Fall Guy ....

), an elderly employee of his whom he criticized and who had wanted to take his granddaughter to the same party. There, Wolf is mistaken for a clown and a group of children attack him. Meanwhile, Jason and Kaylee "modify" the controls to Wolf's blue Jaguar XKR convertible, causing various controls to perform the incorrect function and playing the song "Blue (Da Ba Dee)
Blue (Da Ba Dee)
"Blue " is a eurodance song released in 1999 by Italian group Eiffel 65, as a single from their debut album Europop ....

" by Eiffel 65
Eiffel 65
Eiffel 65 is an Italian three-piece group formed in the late 1990s and best known for pioneering in pitch-correction and autotune, and for their international hit "Blue ". Their other hit singles include "Move Your Body" and "Too Much of Heaven", all of which appeared on their album Europop,...

, resembling his blue skin. Struggling to control his convertible, Wolf stops just behind a monster truck
Monster truck
A monster truck is a pickup truck, typically styled after pickup trucks' bodies, modified or purposely built with extremely large wheels and suspension...

, but is then rear ended by a vengeful old lady, whom he had insulted earlier, which causes him to crash into it, therefore causing its driver, The Masher (Brian Turk
Brian Turk
Brian D. Turk is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Gabriel in the award-winning HBO television series Carnivàle.-Filmography:*Saved by the Bell: The New Class as Spike...

), to destroy Wolf's convertible in anger.

As a result of these pranks, Wolf misses his appointment with his boss Marcus Duncan (Russell Hornsby
Russell Hornsby
Russell Hornsby is an American theater, television, and film actor. He is perhaps best known for portraying police officer Eddie Sutton on the ABC Family television drama series Lincoln Heights, and Luke on the HBO series In Treatment.-Early life and education:Hornsby was a football player at St....

), president of Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

. Wolf and Duncan met at a party to celebrate the premiere of another film Whittaker and Fowl, which proves to be a box office failure. Duncan distrusts Wolf to create anything better and tells him that all the funding for Big Fat Liar will be withdrawn unless Wolf can convince him otherwise. Jason agrees to help Wolf in exchange for a confession of the truth to his father. Wolf, guided by Jason, makes a successful presentation which convinces Duncan to green-light Big Fat Liar and warning him should any little mishap occur, funding for the film will be withdrawn and his career will be over. However, Wolf betrays Jason again and calls his security guards to remove Jason and Kaylee from his office for the second time, but this time, after their true identities, schemes, and hiding place location have been uncovered and revealed as well. Jason and Kaylee are told by Rocko, the head of security, that they will be forced out from Hollywood, cover up the incidents they caused, and be sent back to their hometown in disgrace.

Jason is about to throw in the towel and prepares to be forever humiliated and disbelieved in his hometown when Wolf's secretary, Monty Kirkham (Amanda Detmer
Amanda Detmer
Amanda Jeannette Detmer is an American actress who has appeared in various films and television shows.-Life and career:...

), appears after dismissing Rocko, who was keeping an eye on him and Kaylee, and states that because many of Wolf's co-workers and employees have been abused by him, they are able to help Jason and Kaylee to take revenge against Wolf. Together, Jason, Kaylee, and the studio crew members devise their plan by which to do so. By now, Wolf has either removed or concealed the color of his skin and hair. En route to the studio, Wolf falls into several traps organized by his former co-workers, including skydiving out of a helicopter piloted by Vince and getting soaked from the Universal Studios Hollywood
Universal Studios Hollywood
Universal Studios Hollywood is a movie studio and theme park in the unincorporated Universal City community of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood movie studios still in use...

 flash flood backlot prop. Upon arriving at the studio, bedraggled and desperate, Wolf found out that Jason has taken his beloved toy chimpanzee, Mr. Funny-Bones, hostage. Wolf pursue Jason until they reach a climactic rooftop confrontation, where Wolf admits to have stolen Jason's story, thinking they are alone, and swearing that Wolf will never tell the truth because it's 'overrated'. Immediately, it is revealed that Wolf has been filmed throughout the confession with multiple cameras. As a result, Wolf is exposed and shamed before all those whom he has abused, including Duncan, who is outraged at him for his act of plagiarism, and from a kid, no less. Without hesistation, Duncan fires Wolf for his behaviourial actions, and Jason thanks Wolf for having taught him that "the truth is not overrated". Enraged, Wolf chases Jason, but Jason runs off the side of the building and eventually lands on an inflated crash pad. Afterwards, Jason and his parents re-establish their trust.

In the epilogue, Big Fat Liar is later reproduced and shown in movie theatres across North America, utilizing the talents and skills of all those whom Wolf had abused. During the closing credits, Jason is credited for having written his original story, and Ms. Caldwell is impressed and very proud of him. Meanwhile, Wolf declares bankruptcy and starts his new job as a clown, for which the role he is assigned to entertain the son of the Masher, whom he insulted earlier. Recognizing him, the Masher orders his son: "Yo, Little Mash, show him your nutcracker!", a newly-learned prizefighting technique as a means of avenging the earlier offense. He delivers a flying kick to Wolf's scrotum, and his eyes dilate and rotate.

Cast

  • Frankie Muniz
    Frankie Muniz
    Francisco "Frankie" Muniz IV is an American actor, musician, writer, producer, and racecar driver. He is known primarily as the star of the FOX television family sitcom Malcolm in the Middle. In 2003, he was considered "one of Hollywood's most bankable teens". In 2008, he put his acting career...

     as Jason Shepherd, the protagonist
    Protagonist
    A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

    ; initially a pathological liar. A running gag during the film is Marty Wolf thinking Jason is younger than 14.
  • Paul Giamatti
    Paul Giamatti
    Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. Giamatti began his career as a supporting actor in several films produced during the 1990s including Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, and Man on the Moon, before earning lead roles in several projects in the...

     as Marty Wolf, a Hollywood producer and the main antagonist
    Antagonist
    An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...

    . Like Jason, he is a compulsive liar, although he views lying as part of his career. He has a stuffed monkey named Mr. Funnybones, which he talks to fairly often.
  • Amanda Bynes
    Amanda Bynes
    Amanda Laura Bynes is an American actress, comedian, singer, and fashion designer. Bynes appeared in several successful television series, such as All That and The Amanda Show, on Nickelodeon in the mid to late 1990s and early 2000s, and in 2002, she starred in the TV series, What I Like About You...

     as Kaylee, the deuteragonist
    Deuteragonist
    In literature, the deuteragonist is the second most important character, after the protagonist and before the tritagonist. The deuteragonist may switch from being with or against the protagonist depending on the deuteragonist's own conflict/plot.-History:Greek drama began with simply one actor,...

    , Jason's best friend who helps him in his efforts to prove his innocence.
  • Amanda Detmer
    Amanda Detmer
    Amanda Jeannette Detmer is an American actress who has appeared in various films and television shows.-Life and career:...

     as Monty Kirkham, Wolf's assistant.
  • Donald Faison
    Donald Faison
    Donald Adeosun Faison is an American actor, comedian, and voice actor best known for his role as Dr. Chris Turk in the ABC comedy-drama Scrubs and as Murray in the film Clueless and the subsequent television series of the same name.Faison has also co-starred in the films Remember the Titans ,...

     as Frank Jackson, a limo driver and actor who was previously fired by Wolf, and is more than happy to help Jason and Kaylee in their plan to destroy Wolf's fame.
  • Michael Bryan French
    Michael Bryan French
    Michael Bryan French is an American television actor. He played Dr. Franks on several episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Secret Service agent Frank Simes in Season 1 and Ted Hovis in Season 7 of 24. French also appeared in the 1993 made-for-television film, Darkness Before Dawn.-External...

     and Christine Tucci
    Christine Tucci
    -Biography:Tucci, an Italian American, was born in Katonah, New York, the daughter of Joan , a retired secretary and writer, and Stanley Tucci, Sr., a retired high school art teacher...

     as Harry and Carol Shepherd, Jason and Janie's parents.
  • Sandra Oh
    Sandra Oh
    Sandra Oh is a Canadian actress. She is best known for the role of Dr. Cristina Yang on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, for which she has won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award. She also played notable roles in the feature films Under the Tuscan Sun and Sideways, and had a supporting role on the...

     as Mrs. Phyllis Caldwell, Jason's no-nonsense English teacher.
  • Alex Breckenridge
    Alex Breckenridge
    Alexandra "Alex" Breckenridge is an American film and television actress, photographer and voice artist. Noted for her role as Willa McPherson on the television series Dirt, she also had a supporting role on the short lived series The Ex List...

     as Janie Shepherd, Jason's older sister.
  • Rebecca Corry
    Rebecca Corry
    Rebecca Corry is an American stand-up comedienne. She has her own Comedy Central Presents show. She is 4'11" tall.-Filmography:* "Yes Man"...

     as Astrid Barker, the dog-loving receptionist at the Wolf Pictures office.
  • Jaleel White
    Jaleel White
    Jaleel Ahmad White is an American actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Steve Urkel from Family Matters and voicing the character of Sonic the Hedgehog and other characters for Sonic the Hedgehog media....

     as Himself - often called Urkel
    Steve Urkel
    Steven Quincy Urkel, generally known as Steve Urkel or simply Urkel, is a fictional character on the ABC/CBS sitcom Family Matters, portrayed by Jaleel White...

     (because of his reputation of playing the character with the same name in the TV series Family Matters) by Wolf, often to his chagrin.
  • Russell Hornsby
    Russell Hornsby
    Russell Hornsby is an American theater, television, and film actor. He is perhaps best known for portraying police officer Eddie Sutton on the ABC Family television drama series Lincoln Heights, and Luke on the HBO series In Treatment.-Early life and education:Hornsby was a football player at St....

     as Marcus Duncan, the president of Universal Studios, the studio that Wolf works for; he is very strict when it comes to his job.
  • Lee Majors
    Lee Majors
    Lee Majors is an American television, film and voice actor, best known for his starring role as Colonel Steve Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man and as Colt Seavers in The Fall Guy ....

     as Vince, an aging but nevertheless qualified stunt man.
  • Sean O'Bryan
    Sean O'Bryan
    Sean O'Bryan is an American film and television actor.-Career:O'Bryan has guest-starred on such television series as MacGyver, Cold Case, Quantum Leap, Murder, She Wrote, Chicago Hope, Roseanne, Six Feet Under, Criminal Minds, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Dexter, Bones, and the middle. He...

     as Leo
  • Amy Hill
    Amy Hill
    Amy Marie Hill is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Mrs. DePaulo in That's So Raven, Mrs. Kwan in The Cat in the Hat, the Kylie Minogue-inspired singer, Penny Candy from The Puzzle Place, and the voice of Jasmine Lee Amy Marie Hill (born May 9, 1953) is an American...

     as Joscelyn Davis
  • John Cho
    John Cho
    John Yohan Cho is an American actor and musician, best known for his roles in the American Pie films and the Harold & Kumar films . He also starred in the critically acclaimed hit film Better Luck Tomorrow...

     as Dustin "Dusty" Wong
  • Taran Killam
    Taran Killam
    Taran Hourie Killam is an American actor and comedian best known for his television work on shows such as The Amanda Show, Scrubs, Wild 'N Out, MADtv and currently on Saturday Night Live.-Early life:...

     as Bret Callaway, a skateboard punk who consistently bullies Jason and also has a crush on Kaylee.
  • Jake Minor as Aaron
  • Kyle Swann
    Kyle Swann
    Kyle Swann is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Billy Loomer, the bully, on Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide.-Filmography:-External links:...

     as Brett
  • Sparkle as Grandma Pearl, Kaylee's diminutive grandmother
  • Michelle Griffin as Shandra Duncan
  • Shawn Levy
    Shawn Levy
    Shawn Adam Levy is a Canadian-American actor, director and producer who directed the comedy films Big Fat Liar, Just Married, Cheaper by the Dozen, The Pink Panther, Night at the Museum, Date Night, and the sci-fi movie Real Steel...

     as Wolf party guest
  • Kenan Thompson
    Kenan Thompson
    Kenan Thompson is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work as a cast member of NBC's long-running sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live...

     as a partygoer
  • Dustin Diamond
    Dustin Diamond
    Dustin Neil Diamond is an American actor, musician, director, and stand-up comedian best known for his role as Samuel "Screech" Powers in the television shows Saved by the Bell, Good Morning, Miss Bliss, Saved by the Bell: The College Years and Saved by the Bell: The New Class.-Career:Diamond's...

    , Shawn Levy
    Shawn Levy
    Shawn Adam Levy is a Canadian-American actor, director and producer who directed the comedy films Big Fat Liar, Just Married, Cheaper by the Dozen, The Pink Panther, Night at the Museum, Date Night, and the sci-fi movie Real Steel...

    , Corinne Reilly, and Bart Myer as Wolf party guests
  • Brian Turk
    Brian Turk
    Brian D. Turk is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Gabriel in the award-winning HBO television series Carnivàle.-Filmography:*Saved by the Bell: The New Class as Spike...

     as Masher, a monster truck driver

Reception

The film received mixed reviews, gaining a "Rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

of 43%, with the site's consensus stating "Though there's nothing that offensive about Big Fat Liar, it is filled with Hollywood cliches and cartoonish slapstick, making it strictly for kids." Some critics praised the film as energetic and witty; others called it dull and formulaic. Nevertheless, it was a mild financial success, grossing $48,360,547 at the box office domestically and $53,970,014 worldwide, all while based on a $15 million budget.
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