Buy it... if John Debney's consistent and effective method of scoring physical comedies with robust, enthusiastic orchestral energy never gets old for you.

Avoid it... if the predictability of these scores, despite their thematic cohesiveness and remarkable vibrance in parts, have suffered diminished appeal in the years since Liar Liar was a refreshing new sound.

Debney
Howard

Liar Liar: (John Debney/James Newton Howard) The concept of Liar Liar seems like it would make a decent, hearty comedy with enough dramatic weight to be taken seriously. When you throw actor Jim Carrey into the lead, however, the script of the film becomes completely irrelevant, because the immense physical talents of Carrey distract from whatever else the movie offers. He plays a sleazy lawyer who is jinxed by his heartbroken five-year-old son into telling the truth for one day, causing severe but hilarious problems at the workplace. The story, supporting actors, and pretty much every other aspect of the production plays second fiddle to Carrey, who could very well have entertained the audience just as well in a stand-up solo environment. But the film tried to reach for the "wholesome" department, and in so doing dug its own grave. In fact, the best part of the film is a series of outtakes presented at the end that have more laughs packed into a couple of minutes than the entire film put together. Director Tom Shadyac produced several popular physical comedy films in the 1990's, only some with Carrey; his two earliest efforts, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Nutty Professor both fared well despite rotating between composers to accentuate the laughs with generic, punch-line orchestral scores. For Liar Liar, Shadyac turned to James Newton Howard, who would only actually write the thematic base for the film before stepping aside from the project. The reason for his departure remains unknown, but he strongly recommended to Shadyac that John Debney take over the assignment, citing the rising composer as "the best-kept secret in Hollywood." So pleased was Shadyac with Debney's accommodating personality and the quality of the music that a collaboration between the two would extend to Dragonfly, Bruce Almighty, and Evan Almighty in the following ten years. Debney's knack for matching the energy of physical comedy on screen with equally vibrant and robust orchestral music is a strong match for films such as Liar Liar, and several subsequent projects in the genre prove this point.

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If there is a down side to Debney's effective compositions for these kinds of dumb comedies, it exists in the consistency with which he writes each one. After half a dozen of them, the style begins to expose its limitations. While Liar Liar seemed like a refreshing score at the time, the plethora of similar Debney efforts in subsequent years have diminished its appeal. Debney seemed to have a trademark on the adult, live-action version of Carl Stalling's old Warner cartoon style of music at the time, and these scores were surprisingly conventional in their orchestral constructs. Unlike the concurrent score for Flubber in 1997, in which Danny Elfman took that cartoonish style and launched it into a refreshing (though obnoxious) new direction, Debney's music for these kinds of assignments begins to become too predictable when he fails to include unique instrumentation into the ensemble. The title theme by Howard for Liar Liar is extremely malleable, used by Debney in nearly every cue within the score for unquestionable continuity. Bombastic marches and tender woodwind solos both make use of this theme, leaving auxiliary material somewhat underdeveloped. The most robust performances of the theme feature an adventurous spirit related to the Western genre in its snappy rhythms; both "Pulled Over" and "Airport Chase" present these enjoyable variants. The "Outtake Montage" cue revisits this energy in a scherzo that matches the playful nature of the scene. The softer moments of thematic development on piano and woodwind are somewhat dull in their predictability, but their presence assists the album in achieving some balance. That album runs for only 29 minutes, which is a welcome (if not surprising) move by MCA Records. For collectors of Howard's works, there's very little of the composer's own voice to be heard in Liar Liar; the execution of his ideas by Debney place them firmly in the domain of the latter composer's style of comedy romp. Despite having no distinct weaknesses, Liar Liar is a difficult score to recommend because its sound has become so standardized in the following years that it risks falling into the category of dull retreads despite moving with enthusiasm and energy. Expect more of the same. ***   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

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For John Debney reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.23 (in 49 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.01 (in 42,775 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.