Cast: Jim Carrey, Krista Allen, Steve Borden, Justin Cooper, Amanda Donohoe, Cary Elwes, Swoosie Kurtz, Jennifer Tilly
Director: Tom Shadyac
Screenplay: Paul Guay, Stephen Mazur
Running Time: 90 minutes
Grade: B+
Overall: 3 ½ stars (out of 5)
Comedy: 4 stars (out of 4)
Drama: 2 star (out of 4)

Jim Carrey is back. After his bout with trying to become a more serious actor (last year’s very bad Cable Guy), he has returned to where he belongs: playing a clown. He is, without doubt, the best physical comedian working today. He’s as good as Jerry Lewis was in his classic films. And he is as good as John Cleese—the funniest man in the world—at funny walks and such.

Fletcher Reid (Carrey) is a scumbag lawyer of the lowest kind. When his firm needs someone completely lacking in ethics to represent one of its sleazier clients (Jennifer Tilly as a woman who sleeps with anything in pants), it turns to him. Unfortunately, Fletcher’s son Max (Justin Cooper) has made a birthday wish. He wants his father to not be able to lie for an entire day. This results from the fact that Fletcher keeps promising to spend time with his son, and then reneging and explaining his absences with lies.

Naturally, not being able to lie impedes Fletcher’s ability to do his job. As it would for any lawyer. Right from the opening of the movie, Max tells us what he thinks of his father’s job. In answer to his teacher’s query, he says that his father is a "liar." She says, "Oh, you mean he’s a lawyer." Max shrugs his shoulders, telling us that he (just as most Americans) doesn’t see much difference in the two terms.

The question I had, was would this simple premise—a sleazy lawyer being forced to tell the truth for 24 hours—hold up for the length of an entire film. The answer is, yes: Jim Carrey (barely) pulled it off. We watch, entranced, as he fights with his hand, beats himself into a pulp, and hilariously insults the other lawyers at his firm.

The minor characters and performances are all adequate. I noticed two things: Cary Elwes does a very good American accent, and the makers of the film did a bang-up job in displaying Ms. Tilly’s rather stupendous breasts. I kept hoping that her bra would give up the fight and just release its prisoners—they were very nearly hanging out as it was.

The part of the film which is less than satisfactory is the melodramatic way the father/son issue is resolved. The climactic scene—involving Max, his mother, and her fiance leaving another city—was both sappy and ridiculous. However, the main focus of the film is Jim Carrey and his elastic features, and they shine for the better part of 90 minutes.