'' (
1997 ) is an
American Comedy Film starring
Jim Carrey . It was directed by
Tom Shadyac from a story written by
Paul Guay and
Stephen Mazur . Carrey was nominated for a
Golden Globe Award (
1998 ) for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical.
Fletcher Reede is a particularly career-focused
Lawyer and divorced father. He has a habit of breaking promises to be with his young son, Max, if his job conflicts and then lies to his ex-wife, Audrey, and Max about the real reason he missed the date. Fletcher lets Max down once too often, missing his birthday party, and has to deal with the consequences when Max makes a wish while blowing out the candles on the cake. The wish is that Fletcher cannot tell a lie for 24 hours.
Fletcher soon has several embarrassing instances where he blurts out exactly what he is thinking and figures out that he is unable to lie. This comes at a rather bad time as he is fighting a case in court, which, should he win, could be a huge boost to his career. His main witness is willing to commit
Perjury to help win but Fletcher discovers he cannot even ask a question if he knows the answer will be a lie. Meanwhile, Audrey, is threatening to move to
Boston with her new boyfriend, Jerry, and take Max with them.
Over the course of the film, Fletcher realizes what is truly important to him and, at the end, struggles to stop his son from being taken so far away from him. He also manages to win the case truthfully by using a loophole in the law, with the repercussions being a major catalyst to his understanding of what he is likely to lose.
Fletcher Reede, after discovering his inability to lie, gets on an elevator with a busty woman (
Krista Allen ). She is wearing a low cut top, revealing her cleavage. At first, the camera fouses on her breasts and then up to her face. The woman tells Fletcher that everyone has been real nice to her and that she has just moved in. Fletcher, since he has to tell the truth, tells her that it was so because of the size of her breasts, and she gets offended. She slaps Fletcher and he gets off of the elevator.
- Carrey makes a humorous reference to himself in this film in the following lines:
Max Reede: If I make funny faces, will my face get stuck that way?
Fletcher Reede: Nuh uh. In fact, some people make a very good living that way. (referring to the rubberized faces he is famous for in all of his films)
- Shadyac and Carrey decided to pay homage to Carrey's days on '' In Living Color '' by having him appear as his "Fire Marshal Bill" character in the background of a scene. Look for the character in one of the film's closing scenes, donning sunglasses and firefighter gear, when Maura Tierney 's character attempts to tell an airport official that Fletcher is/was her husband.
- The song ''"Five Candles (You Were There)"'', by Jars Of Clay , was originally written for the soundtrack but it was cut from the credits in favor of a blooper reel.
- Jim Carrey turned down the role of Dr. Evil to be in this movie, he was very interested in playing the part as he knew it would be great.
Cheri Oteri and
Randall "Tex" Cobb have cameo roles.
