History Film / LiarLiar

** Meta example at the end of the Blooper Reel. Carrey genuinely cracks up after his co-star (as part of a prank) calls him an over-actor mid-performance..

** The burglar suing someone because they were injured while breaking and entering into a home? That’s a legal urban legend no such case even exists as [[https://youtu.be/QNnDvdtj9Us Legal Eagle points out]].

** It may or may not have been intentional, but Jason Bernard, who plays Judge Marshall Stevens, also previously played the Boss in the Fox TV show Herman's Head. His job? Head of the *fact-checking department* of a major magazine.

** The courtroom scene where Fletcher gets put into contempt is an homage/ripoff to Film/AllOfMe and the actor playing the judge in that scene plays the blind saxophonist in Film/AllOfMe.
** It may or may not have been intentional, but Jason Bernard, who plays Judge Marshall Stevens, also previously played the Boss in the Fox TV show Herman's Head. His job? Head of the *fact checking department* of a major magazine.

** Once he's over the shock of spitting out the truth without thinking, Fletcher keeps chuckling over saying, "I've had better" after sex with Miranda.

'''Fred:''' The strongest case possible is consistent with the truth. If you insist that I take it to trial, I will represent Mrs. Cole aggressively and ethically... but Miranda, I won't lie.\\

'''Max:''' But you're the only one that makes it feel bad.\\

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: In its purest form. [[spoiler: Fletcher and Audrey share a kiss just as Max blows out his birthday candles. They believe that Max wished for them to get back together, but it turns out that they were acting on their own free will.]]

** Carey himself when Swoozie Kurtz accuses him of being an over-actor during a VolleyingInsults [[HilariousOuttakes outtake]].

'''Judge Stevens:''' ... well, you're still young. It'll happen more and more. In the meantime, what do you say we get down to business?
* DelayedReaction: Fletcher has one after Audrey tells him about Max's wish.
* DerailingLoveInterests: Averted. Jerry is introduced as a genuinely nice and sweet man who treats Audrey and Max well, and although he doesn't care for Fletcher he's civil to him. When he realizes Fletcher still loves his family and the lengths he'll go to in order to keep them, [[spoiler: he lets them go and just lets Audrey know he's there if she changes her mind]]. The only thing you could really say about him is that he's a bit of a goofball, which Audrey admits he can be sometimes.
* DiabolusExMachina: Instigated by Fletcher himself, no less. His last-minute discovery that Mrs. Cole [[spoiler:was underaged when she got married, invalidating her pre-nup but leaving the common-law marriage intact]] ends up unduly costing an innocent man half his assets.[[note]]We might say it could cost a loving father custody of his children too, but Mrs. Cole had already demonstrated herself in court to be an unfaithful wife and an absolutely ''horrible'' mother, so at least she likely won't get full or even partial custody without Fletcher representing her anymore. Plus, the husband could always appeal against the decision given the point about the pre nup being voidable but not void. After Mrs. Cole turned 18, she had a limited amount of time to render the contract void but she never did, so the pre nup and marriage are valid and the judge's ruling erred from the law. The husband would get his assets back having proved adultery and could use the money as leverage for joint custody or even sole custody for himself.[[/note]]

* DivorceAssetsConflict: The core of Fletcher Reede's case. His client signed a prenuptial agreement stating that if she had an affair she would be entitled to nothing when divorced by her (very wealthy) husband. The entire case is a joke as the woman is not only clearly guilty of infidelity but shows absolutely no remorse for her wrong-doing, and Fletcher only encourages her to take as much as she possibly can. [[spoiler:He finds a loophole when he realizes that, among other things, his client lied about her age and was legally a minor at the time she signed the prenuptial agreement, thus invalidating it and the divorce defaults to the standard half-and-half split.]]
* DivorceIsTemporary: [[spoiler:Fletcher and Audrey share a kiss in the final scene, at Max's sixth birthday party. They of course ask their son if he made another birthday wish to cause them to get back together - and he replies that he wished for roller blades, meaning Audrey and Fletcher's romance is rekindling on its own]].

* EurekaMoment: [[spoiler:Right when the case seems lost, Fletcher's client makes an off-hand remark about her age. This turns the case upside down.]]

* ExactWords: Fletcher can't use them, but he can be caught by anyone ''else'' using them. As it says elsewhere on this page, not only can he not lie, but he can't even evade the truth, deceive while remaining silent or choose not to answer. Several times he gets into trouble because he is asked a question which he could have given a better answer to if the other person had just happened to phrase it differently. However, when one of Fletcher's clients robs an ATM and asks for legal advice, Fletcher does manage to give him the perfectly valid legal advice of [[NoIndoorVoice "STOP BREAKING THE LAW, ASSHOLE!"]]

* FaceHeelTurn: Mrs. Cole at least SEEMS in the early parts of the movie to be somewhat fettered with how Miranda and Fletcher mean to win her case. She flat-out brings up how none of their arguments are true, talks about how good a father Mr. Cole is, and reiterates the extreme number of times she had sex with the other guy after Fletcher mistakenly assumes it was only once. Then, over the course of the movie, she gets markedly more shrewish and outright hostile near the end until she's treating her children like objects [[spoiler:and telling Mr. Cole to get to writing checks after Fletcher wins the case]].

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: When Max, Audrey and Jerry walk past some firemen, Jim Carrey can be seen in the background dressed as Fire Marshall Bill from ''Series/InLivingColor''.

* GoldDigger: Even $11 million isn't enough for Mrs. Cole.

** After Samantha Cole leaves Miranda's office following her introduction to Fletcher, Miranda tells Fletcher that Samantha's case is worth a lot of money to the firm, hinting that the firm is being paid a contingency fee since it's later revealed that a settlement offer has been made and refused, whereas if the firm were accepting a flat fee, the amount of Samantha's settlement would be irrelevant, and there would be no need to bring Fletcher in to replace the attorney who refused unethical behavior earlier in the movie. Attorneys are barred from accepting divorce cases on a contingency basis, unless it's a suit to recover past due alimony or child support.

** Further to the above, the judge would not just stop the trial and render a verdict midway through. It would have continued until both sides had presented all their evidence, called all their witnesses etc and made their closing arguments.

-->'''Fletcher:''' Thank you. Now let's see, weight 105? Yeah, in your bra.\\

** Fletcher hurls a metric ton of verbal abuse at his boss who finds it hilarious. He then goes all the way and insults everyone in the room who all laugh at his insults, thinking it's a [[TheRoast roast]].

* LiteralMinded: Max's wish forces Fletcher to either be literal about almost everything, or specify that he's ''not'' being literal. For example, Fletcher calls his boss "a worthless steaming pile of cow dung" and has to add on the tag "figuratively speaking," and when a homeless man asks Fletcher if he ''can'' spare some change, Fletcher has to answer "Yes, I could." When the homeless man asks if he ''will'' spare some, Fletcher is able to say no.

* MaleGaze: Fletcher in the elevator scene with his [[FanserviceExtra busty new neighbor ]].

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Averted with the main story, which is clearly ''some'' sort of magic, but in the epilogue [[spoiler:Audrey and Fletcher kiss at Max's next birthday, implying that they're going to get back together. After what happened the last time he had a birthday, they're savvy enough to immediately ask if he wished for them to get back together. He ''says'' he wished for rollerblades, but he's not under any magical compulsion to tell the truth so this may or may not be BlatantLies]].
** It's also possible that he ''did'' wish for [[spoiler:his parents to fall in love again]], but the wish had no actual effect, either because it was already happening or because ItOnlyWorksOnce

* PenultimateOutburst

* ProfessionalButtKisser: Mr Allen's board members out themselves as this when Fletcher insults Allen to his face. It's only when Mr Allen starts laughing that they laugh along despite staying noticably silent while they awaited his reaction.

* RequiredSecondaryPowers: In a way, and for plot purposes. Not only does he have a truth-telling "superpower", but he also seems to be incapable of holding back the truth that is on his mind and spits it right out. For instance when he's pulled over by the police Fletcher seems incapable of reserving his 5th amendment right to stay silent, or simply say "yes" when asked if he knows why he was pulled over. (See "Long List" above for a quote from the scene).

--> '''Fletcher''': What's wrong with me?! ''[suddenly monotone]'' I'm getting what I deserve. I'm reaping what I sow, I--''[claps both hands heavily over his mouth, while involuntarily ranting]''

* TongueTied

* VillainHasAPoint: In an interesting example, Fletcher realizes that ''he's'' the villain at the end, when he wins millions for his client through LoopholeAbuse. Putting aside the fact that this wouldn't work in real life (see HollywoodLaw, above), the fact remains this was a case of a rich, older guy marrying a 17-year-old girl (apparently thinking she was 18). She ''was'' too young to make an informed decision about either marriage or a pre-nup (and the case could arguably constitute statutory rape), so it's hard to feel especially bad for the guy.

--> '''Fletcher:''' ''[angry]'' Now you listen to me - I'm a bad father! I... I mean... ''[horrified]'' [[HeelRealization I'm a bad father]]...

* WhenYouComingHomeDad: Max is constantly annoyed at how Fletcher is always late to meet him. When he doesn't cancel things the last minutes.

** Cue multiple men, including the Judge, leaving for the toilet.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Once he's over the shock of spitting out the truth without thinking, Fletcher keeps chuckling over saying, "I've had better" after sex with Miranda.

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale:
** Fletcher was raped. Miranda knew that he wanted partner, as most lawyers do. She used her position to manipulate him into having sex with her, when he clearly was resisting. There was no indication of consent on Fletcher's behalf, and he went along with it because he really wanted the position. Had the genders been flipped, this would not be presented as comical.
** Just minutes before Miranda rapes Fletcher, Samantha gives him a hug before leaving, whispers seductively in his ear, and grabs his ass. It clearly bothers him. [[spoiler:Later in court after they win, she pins Fletcher down and [[ForcefulKiss kisses the hell out of him]] for a few moments while he squirms under her grasp. He’s then seen wiping off his lips. Again played for laughs.]]

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: Just because [[spoiler:Samantha was a minor when she signed the prenup doesn't automatically render the contract void. It makes it ''voidable'', which means that she would have the option of voiding it upon reaching the age of majority. And while it could be claimed that she's expressing that wish now, the fact that she's lived as Richard's wife and enjoyed the benefits of marriage could be used to argue that her actions have been affirming the prenup for 13 years. The truth is, the case would continue for a while and would most likely be decided in the husband's favor]].

** The car pool attendant. When Fletcher rants that he won't do anything about the scratch on his car, which the attendant dismissively said was already there, because even if he sues the car pool company will ignore the court's ruling, the attendant just replies matter-of-factly "You've been here before, haven't you?" indicating that he knows this is the company's modus operandi and has no problem with it.

* LiteralMinded: Max's wish forces Fletcher to either be literal about almost everything, or specify that he's ''not'' being literal. For example, Fletcher calls his boss "a worthless steaming pile of cow dung" and has to add on the tag "figuratively speaking," and when a homeless man asks Fletcher if he ''can'' spare some change, Fletcher has to answer "Yes, I could." When the homeless man asks if he ''will'' spare some, Fletcher is able to say no.
* LongList: When Fletcher is stopped after reckless driving...

[[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor And the wish works.]] Fletcher is absolutely incapable of any form of dishonesty no matter how big or small. He can't lie, mislead, withhold information, ask a question if he knows the answer is going to be a lie, ''[[HumiliationConga or even deceive by remaining silent]]''. He quickly finds just how much he really does lie in one day and how much trouble he gets into because of telling the absolute truth...

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Once he's over the shock of spitting out the truth without thinking, Fletcher keeps chuckling over saying "I've had better" after sex with Miranda.
* AgeGapRomance: Richard and Samantha Cole are this. Richard Cole's age is never stated, so we don't know if this crosses into MayDecemberRomance, but Samantha is thirty-one and Richard looks at least 15-20 years older than her. [[spoiler:It turns out that Samantha was only seventeen when she married Richard, but changed her birthdate on her driver's license so that she'd be able to legally get married without parental consent. The fact that she was a minor when she got married meant that the prenup was void, and thus she was still entitled to half of Richard's assets]].
* AmicableExes: Fletcher and Audrey are this during the film's ExtremelyShortTimespan; they are completely civil with each other (Fletcher even takes Audrey's jabs at his infidelity in stride) and while Audrey is angry enough with Fletcher's flakiness to be willing to accept Jerry's proposal and take Max with her to Boston, she also shows genuine concern with his remorse over this trait and knows he's a good man and father when he makes the effort. [[spoiler: After a time skip of a year in the coda, they get back together.]]
* AmoralAttorney: Fletcher, at first. Miranda's EstablishingCharacterMoment is to make it clear she prefers this from her workers -- her second line of dialogue is "let the judge decide what's true or not, that's what he gets paid for; ''you'' get paid to win".

'''Fred:''' The strongest case possible consistent with the truth. If you insist that I take it to trial, I will represent Mrs. Cole aggressively and ethically... but Miranda, I won't lie.\\

* CheatingWithTheMilkman: If you listen closely to the "sex tape" you can hear the man Samantha Cole is having sex with say "I have to go clean the pool."

* PrenupBlowup: The main case involves a GoldDigger attempting to get half of her husband's assets, despite the fact that the prenup he had her sign before marriage stipulated that, if she was unfaithful, she gets nothing. The husband's case seems ironclad, and there is even an audio recording of the wife having sex with her lover. The protagonist is an AmoralAttorney representing her who is unable to lie for one day (thanks to a wish made by his son) and, thus, can't win the case in his normal manner (he can't even ask a question that he knows will be answered by a lie). Interestingly, the husband was willing to settle for a decent sum of money despite the prenup in order to spare their children the unfortunate experience, but the wife wanted more. The protagonist wins the case by sheer chance, when he discovers that the wife was underage when she got married but lied about it. Thus, the prenup is invalid, and the wife is granted half of the assets. Then the protagonist realizes the mistake he made when he sees the wife trying to continue the battle by demanding full custody of the kids, despite the fact that she doesn't care about them, while her ex-husband is a loving father, all to get extra money from child support payments.

* HardTruthAesop: Lying is a necessary evil because BrutalHonesty can get you into trouble. Fletcher is forced to be truthful to everyone for just 24 hours, and it almost ruins his life as he tells friends and co-workers what he really thinks of them, gets into confrontations with strangers, and can't even hold a normal conversation with people. As Fletcher puts to Max as one example, when Audrey was pregnant, she asked Fletcher if she looked fat; he said no, because saying yes would have hurt her feelings. But this is only the tip of the iceberg given everything else Fletcher has been through and all the misfortunes his honesty brings upon him in just one day.

* LoopholeAbuse: The film plays with this back and forth. On the one hand, sometimes Fletcher is able to tell the truth in a roundabout way; when he beats himself up and the Judge asks who did it, Fletcher gives a physical description of himself rather than just say he did it himself. He also seems able to say things that may or may not be true, but he ''believes'' to be true; for example, he has to admit that he is a bad father because he at least subconsciously recognises his flaws, but when he gives a speech about the dangers of avoiding a bathroom break he has no reason to believe that isn't true. On the other hand when the time comes to rehearse Falk's testimony, he discovers he can't ask a question if he knows Falk will lie about it. During the trial he does manage to get the questions out a couple times, but can't help himself from immediately objecting to himself. Additionally, Fletcher is compelled to answer direct questions, denying the chance for him to just not give an answer, truth or lie.

* HardTruthAesop:
** Sometimes lying is better than telling the truth and being honest all the time can actually work against you. As explained by Fletcher when he talks about how a pregnant Audrey asked [[DoesThisMakeMeLookFat if she looked fat]] and he said no, and that if he'd told her she looked like a cow, it'd have hurt her feelings.
** At one point, Max says "My teacher says that [[TrueBeautyIsOnTheInside real beauty is on the inside]]". Fletcher responds "That's just something ugly people say". Crass presentation aside, studies have repeatedly shown that physically attractive people usually fare better in society and are treated more favorably than average-looking or unattractive people, even if their beauty is only external.

* BlessedWithSuck: Fletcher for 24 hours. It may cause him quite a bit of harm to his career, but it helped him bring his family back together, realize what was actually important to him, and possibly kept him out of prison for suborning perjury.

-->'''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a61gEPoL6Do Greta:]]''' Mr. Reede, several years ago a friend of mine had a burglar on her roof -- a ''burglar.'' He fell through the kitchen skylight, landed on a cutting board, on a butcher's knife, cutting his leg. The burglar sued my friend. He sued my friend and because of guys like you, ''he won.'' My friend had to pay the burglar $6,000. Is that justice?\\

** Like most courtroom scenes, the film shows lawyers entering the "well" of the court (i.e. the area between the tables and the judge's bench). They aren't allowed to do this without the judge's permission, and this doesn't happen except to have a sidebar with him. When questioning witnesses, they stand at the podium.

* {{Corpsing}}: Maura Tierney briefly breaks when Fletcher mimics Audrey's exasperation over him taking Max to a wrestling show.
-->'''Audrey''': Ugh, ''Fletcher''.\\

...on the day that not only Fletcher has one of the most important cases of his life, with defenses built mostly on lies, but Audrey (Maura Tierney), Fletcher's ex-wife and Max's mom, is interested in moving with her boyfriend to Boston, and bringing Max along! HilarityEnsues.

* ThatWasObjectionable:

* SelfDeprecation / LampshadeHanging:
-->'''Max:''' If I keep making this face ''[makes a face]'' will it get stuck that way?\\
'''Fletcher:''' Not in a million years--in fact, some people make a good living that way.
** Also qualifies as ActorAllusion and HypocriticalHumor.

* YourCheatingHeart: One of the main conflicts between the Coles. It's also strongly implied to be at least partly responsible for ending Fletcher and Audrey's marriage.
-->'''Audrey:''' You forget that when we were married, I wasn't having sex nearly as often as you were.