Big Fat Liar

Review by Clint Morris

Maybe he's not the best person to be compared to, but doesn't young Frankie Muniz remind you of Fred Savage?

They're both undersized; they're both too smart for their own size six shoes; and both the central constituent of TV series based on growing up -- Savage with the ever so memorable The Wonder Years and the former with recent success Malcolm in the Middle.

Even after the show finished and he took on various movie parts, Savage was still labelled as the kid from The Wonder Years and his movie career never got the kick-start he hoped for.

But what's to become of Frankie Muniz?

Big Fat Liar is Muniz's first major motion picture since winning fame as TV's Malcolm. It is, in essence, bubblegum pleasantry fashioned around his on-screen ego and, although thrown a different name and purpose, Big Fat Liar could very well have had the working title Malcom goes to Hollywood.

In spite of it's pre-packaged modus operandi of cutesy-pie tomfoolery with a quest, Big Fat Liar is a unexpectedly enjoyable vehicle, which a pre-teen Fred Savage would have sold his soul to do.

A modern day twist on The Boy Who Cried Wolf tale, Liar stars Muniz as Jason Shepherd, a pert unremitting liar usually one step ahead of those who doubt him.

When a slime ball Hollywood movie producer named Marty Wolf (Paul Giamatti) steals Jason's school story and turns it into a movie script, it's not unanticipated that his parents and teacher don't believe him. With the backing of his equally gusto girlfriend Kaylee (Amanda Bynes), Jason heads to Hollywood to confront the creep and, in due course, turn the tables.

The script here is so paper-thin you'd think it was written on one of writer Dan Schneider's napkins over lunch one day. Still, the effervescent performances of the two young leads, coupled with the always vivacious Paul Giamatti (Duets, Planet of the Apes), make Big Fat Liar much more entertaining than first impressions might perceive.

The film shares the same kind of charm and buoyancy that Spy Kids and Max Keeble's Big Move had and, granted he is offered movies of similar quality, Franie Muniz might just escape the dreaded curse of Fred Savage...

3.5 out of 5

Big Fat Liar
Australian release: Thursday July 11th
Cast: Frankie Muniz, Amanda Bynes, Paul Giamatti, Amanda Detmer, Donald Faison, Lee Majors, Jaleel White.
Director: Shawn Levy.
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