Big Fat Liar 2002

Jay Carr, Boston Globe: Where there's dumb and dumber, there's invariably dumbest, a case in point being Big Fat Liar. Read more

John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press: I'd be the one lying if I said that Muniz and his inspired payback aren't sometimes funny. Read more

Charles Savage, Miami Herald: The result is so tame that even slightly wised-up kids would quickly change the channel. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: [A]n utterly charming and hilarious film that reminded me of the best of the Disney comedies from the 60s. Read more

Susan Stark, Detroit News: In gleefully, thumpingly hyperbolic terms, it covers just about every cliche in the compendium about crass, jaded movie types and the phony baloney movie biz. Read more

Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News: It's hard to think of two young actors who could pump as much life into a movie as Frankie Muniz and Amanda Bynes do in Big Fat Liar. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: It's no surprise, alas, that Mr. Muniz and Ms. Bynes seem considerably smarter than the frantic knockabout comedy in which they find themselves trapped. Read more

Melanie McFarland, Seattle Times: Unless you're part of the Nickelodeon Nation, the cold, hard truth is you're better off dropping your 'tween at the multiplex and spending that hour and a half doing something more worthwhile. Read more

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Read more

Houston Chronicle: Read more

Paul Tatara, CNN.com: The overall effect is less like a children's movie than a recruitment film for future Hollywood sellouts. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Let's call [Muniz] the next-generation Fred Savage. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Becomes a progression of increasingly elaborate slapstick stunts, in the brutal, noisy Home Alone vein, in which the complexity of the pranks rarely yields a commensurate comic reward. Read more

Robert K. Elder, Chicago Tribune: Plays so flat, so to close its 'movie message' formula, that it seems as if we've seen this movie before. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: A lame collection of dumber-than-dumb gags, the quality of Big Fat Liar is on par with that of the worst television sit-com gorged to four times its normal size. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The movie's charm is that it has confidence in this goofy story and doesn't push it too hard. Read more

Damien Cave, Salon.com: Never pushes its pranks far enough to reach laugh-out-loud success and never gives its actors enough comedic support. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: A children's movie that's almost worth seeing even when not accompanied by a child. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Time Out: Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Feels at times like a giant commercial for Universal Studios, where much of the action takes place. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: Manages to be sweet and wickedly satisfying at the same time. Read more