Bigger Fatter Liar (2017) User Reviews

Grows Tiresome

[larrys3 · 4/10 · 25 April 2017]

I have not seen the 2002 film "Big Fat Liar" but from what I've read on some sites this latest "version" is quite inferior. It seemed to start out in a rather clever and humorous way but as as the movie progressed it all grew very tiresome for me.

Ricky Garcia stars as Kevin, a high school student who has built a reputation of constantly lying and manipulating. When he's caught plagiarizing a paper by one of his teachers, he's given an assignment to write a new paper and cleverly comes up with the outline of a new video game called Bigger Fatter Liar.

However, by circumstance his idea is stolen by a despicable video game executive (Barry Bostwick). Bostwick really plays the vile character to the hilt. Of course, due to Kevin's previous reputation virtually no one will believe him.

Thus, pretty much the remainder of the movie will involve Kevin and his best friend Becca (Jodelle Ferland) flying to San Francisco and wreaking havoc on the executive's life through a series of pranks and revenge tactics. In my opinion, it just all became too repetitive like a "one trick pony" and contrived, and I was glad when it finally concluded.

Is it a sequel? A remake? Either way it's fun!

[studioAT · 4/10 · 29 May 2017]

2002's 'Big Fat Liar' will never top a 'best family film ever' list, but was an entertaining enough film that is still remembered with affection by those who grew up watching it.

I was surprised then to see 'Bigger Fatter Liar' appear straight to DVD in 2017.

The film, despite being touted on the DVD box as being a sequel, is really a remake, with the original plot structure and like for like characters (often with slightly amended names) all being adhered to. It feels a little like the later 'Home Alone' films, where 'Kevin-esque' characters were put through their paces.

It's not the mess that others here have made it out to be. There are some nice new original touches (not just changing a film idea being stolen to an app) and the leads are clearly having fun in their roles.

It pales in comparison to the original, but there's a lot to like here.

Dumber Cheaper Duller

[chubbydave · 4/10 · 31 July 2018]

It's hard to follow Paul Giamatti. He's a comedic genius. In the first BFL movie, he had us all rolling on the floor laughing. The guy who plays the BFL in this movie tries but doesn't come close to even being funny. He's about as funny as a sore throat.

One highlight, and this makes it worth it to see the movie, is Jodelle Ferland who is one of the most beautiful young women on the planet yet it doesn't seem that she knows it thereby making her seem sweet and vulnerable. She plays the Amanda Bynes character. Amanda was an exciting actress, but Jodell is just fantastic to watch.

Big Fat Clunker

[catarinaloss · 21 April 2017]

I apologize in advance- this review is a bit on the scathing side. But deservedly so, as studios need to realize that if sequels/remakes/reboots are going to be greenlit, they need to be at least remotely worthwhile.

When I first saw this on Netflix, I was both shocked and excited; I had not heard about a remake of Big Fat Liar being in the works, but BFL was one of my absolute favorite movies as a kid, so I was hopeful about a fresh take on the story. This movie also had quite a bit of storytelling potential as far as explaining why the main character lied so much and why his friend put up with his nonsense for so long.

And then I saw no trace of Dan Schneider in the writing/producing credits. That was a hard pill to swallow, as he was the reason the original was so much fun, but still, I went into it cautiously optimistic. After all, I enjoyed Ricky Garcia and Jodelle Ferland in other things...

Twenty minutes in, I knew. I kept telling myself it could get better, so I stuck it out 'til the end, but it just didn't.

I'll start with the writing. It's awful. There were inconsistencies as glaring as the name of the video game in question; it switched between Bigger Fatter Liar and Big Fat Liar, so after watching the movie, I'm still not sure what the actual name is. Not to mention, I could swear Wolf's first name is Larry in the movie, but on IMDb he's listed as Alan. What? The biggest issue with the writing, however, is that it lacks everything that made Big Fat Liar special: quirkiness, charm, and most of all, LIFE. The remake was devoid of all of it. It didn't help that Wolf went from turning into a brightly colored clown to a black- and-white mime. Ironically fitting, however, as the new Wolf actor utterly paled in comparison to the brilliance of Paul Giamatti.

That brings me to the acting. Again, lifeless. The actors in the original oozed charisma and personality, whereas it is the complete opposite here.

Ricky Garcia- He's great as the lovable Naldo in Best Friends Whenever, but he clearly struggled with this role. I think Naldo is just easier to play, being the cartoonish Disney Channel sidekick that he is.

Jodelle Ferland- She was the one person who turned in a decent performance most of the time, but she is no Amanda Bynes and was held back by a lack of good material to work with.

Barry Bostwick- I'm not familiar with his past work, but from his credits I can tell that he's a respectable actor, so it's clear to me that he was more held back than anyone else. His performance was nothing special, but again, his material was nothing special.

Basically, this movie was written and directed by a guy who does Hallmark movies, and it showed.

Simply put, it just didn't work.

Don't waste time on this remake and go watch Big Fat Liar(2002) if you haven't already. You'll thank me later.

This is a crime against cinema

[singstar4542 · 1/10 · 27 April 2017]

I am big fan of the original, but this is word for word the exact same movie with a stupid app idea. I am furious watching this film and how Universal allowed this to be made. Thank god this was not in theaters and I could watch it off netlflix in the comfort of my home. Dan Schnider is sobbing after watching this, Why did you have to reboot something so iconic and perfect. This is a disgrace to everyone who enjoyed the original!

They attempted to make the first movie again... except badly

[james_bu · 1/10 · 24 May 2017]

I think the original movie must have been too successful for the writers/producers/directors/stakeholders because they literally took the script of the first and using copy and replace inserted the words "video game app" instead of "movie". Then they examined the jokes and removed all lead up and background but left the punch lines. They even added a couple of nods to the original which fall completely flat because this movie IS the original if the original were made badly. I'm not exaggerating. Watch it. Lament the bitter taste it leaves in your mouth as it attempts to rewrite your fond memories of Big Fat Liar with it's blatant and very poorly done plagiarism of the original.

It's absolute rubbish

[anthonymichaelson · 1/10 · 14 June 2022]

I'm sorry if I'm being too harsh, but how did a 2002 movie make more sense than the 2017 remake? I mean, the 2017 bigger fatter liar was so bad that all I did was complain when seeing it. The acting was very poor, the slight change in story made it even worse. With all the technology provided, it still one of the worse remakes I've ever seen.

Shame..

[ckarvanek · 1/10 · 25 July 2022]

..on whoever gave the OK on this movie. What was going through the writers, directors, producers minds? Let's make a sub par version of the original. With the EXACT same story line. This is a horrible attempt at a sequel. At least get some new ideas. They even die "Wolf's" skin and mess with his car. If you've seen the first don't bother with this one. A disappointment would be an understatement.

Awful, awful, awful.

[jojonic · 1/10 · 15 July 2017]

Just the worst film I've ever seen. We watched the first one and loved it, so we decided to watch this one the next day. What a BIG mistake. Word for word, concept for concept, exactly the same as the first one, even down to the guy being called 'Wolf' and his secretary saving the day in the end. Except with fewer jokes.

Seriously, just don't. This is an hour and a half of your life you will NEVER get back. Literally go and have a nap instead or something.

Disgraceful.

Worst remake ever

[mireille-pl120788 · 1/10 · 2 July 2017]

Can I just say that this is the worst remake ever? Yeah remake, it isn't even an original story or a part 2. The game 'big fat liar' (the only difference is that it's a game now. Oh and the bad guy turned a mime instead of a smurf) wasn't even good or original. It's just a boring catch the falling money game. And there a thousands of them. The game kept crashing which didn't make sense at all. There could've been bugs, but crashing? Seriously? I get that you wanted to make it kid friendly, but at least make it realistic. The limousine had these screens outside of it and the bad guy was supposed to not notice it being screens? Yeah, right... If you've seen big fat liar (the original) don't watch this one. If you haven't, go watch the original.

I enjoyed it!

[glasscase-25919 · 10/10 · 27 April 2017]

I grew up with the original 2002 box-office hit "Big Fat Liar" and when I found out about this, I thought "Why not give it a shot?" I watched the film online for free and I surprisingly enjoyed it. To me, the acting wasn't really that bad, the characters were pretty awesome (not as awesome as the ones in the original) and the fate of Larry Wolf was awesome as well. That's all I have to say!

Big Fat Disappointment

[armandocervantes-98926 · 3/10 · 23 September 2018]

This Complete excuse for a sequel/reboot of a classic movie. the beginning of the movie is pretty much a cheap ripoff of the original. the acting is played out like a mellow dramatic old time film with out good morals. i give a grade A by the attempt of mimicking Amanda Bynes and Frankie Muniz performance, consider it a Saturday Night Live skit of the original. Luckily this was a direct to video release otherwise this film could have ruined their careers as actors

The worst I've seen for a very long time

[PerFromSweden · 15 June 2017]

This film simply reuse the script from the original "Big Fat Liar" with only minor changes. Problem is they use much less talented actors and the writer/actor Ron Oliver must have gone crazy since he peaked his career in the 1980:s. This is simply a lousy attempt to earn a few dollars by using the name of an old popular film. I ought to claim compensation from the production company for totally ruining 1½ hours of my life.

Worst "Sequel" of a movie ever

[kaiowens-96949 · 3/10 · 28 October 2019]

This movie is a trainwreck, it's the same thing as Big Fat Liar. They both get hit by a car, get their idea stolen, have the same characters, have the same antics and pranks they did on the first movie. The ending is the same to. They were so greedy with this movie. DO NOT WATCH!!!!!!!!!!

This was messy

[burgerman93 · 3/10 · 18 September 2023]

I grew up on the 2002 original film, and rewatched that one time and time again. That movie had a solid script, great zingers, and the jokes/pranks that the kids played were more practical.

This is almost a carbon copy of the 2002 film, and poorly designed with a lot of slapstick and phony heart. The filmmakers try a modern twist - instead of Shepard's essay being plagiarized, it's a video game schematic.

While the main duo isn't horrible at acting, the actor who portrayed Wolf didn't make for a convincing villain. After 40 minutes it was clear that nothing would come together. I was starting to feel bad for Wolf. Yeah he stole the kid's idea, but drugging his smoothie and energy drinks isn't really fair game.

The original film still holds up and this isn't a true sequel. It's regurgitated nonsense.

Okay

[maxlovstedt · 2/10 · 15 July 2018]

An adaptation of the original that was less effective and far less enjoyable.

Want something fresh and new? This isn't it.

[edwarddrawshisabs · 1/10 · 25 May 2020]

I won't go too deep, as the movie itself is as shallow as a puddle. All you need to know is that this "sequel" is nothing more than reused garbage. Even pieces of the original script were ripped for this, while they tried to pass it off as a new film. It's garbage, plain and simple. I only sat through it for Jodelle Ferland, but even talent can't make up for crap directing and "writing".

If a sequel means retelling the same story, then yes, this is a sequel

[nfwray · 3/10 · 25 June 2019]

This one is bad. Real Bad. If you liked the original, this so-called sequel will make the original movie seem fantastic, largely because the original was actually quite good.

The film is about a typical compulsively-lying teenager named Kevin Shepard (Garcia) who creates the idea for a video game called 'Big Fat Liar' as part of a school assignment. In a chance encounter, entertainment executive Larry Wolf's (Bostwick) limo hits Shepard on his bike. Wolf steals the paper, and then attempts to use Shepard's stolen idea to create a video game which he thinks will please his boss and earn him a promotion to company president. As a result, Wolf and his best friend Becca (Ferland) embark on an adventure in an effort to force Wolf to admit his lie and give Shepard the credit he deserves.

I will start with the positives, although there weren't many positive things to say about this film. There were a couple of chuckle-worthy moments and at times the actors did decent for what they had to work with. At face value, Bostwick was by no means bad at all in his role, and neither were the other main characters. When compared to the originals, however, this is a different story.

On the negative side, this movie is loaded to the brim. The script is terrible. The cinematography barely nicks the bottom of average. The result was a very cheap feel, especially when compared to the original 'Big Fat Liar.' That leads me to perhaps the most egregious sin of this movie: other than some minor changes and a recast, it is merely a poorly regurgitated, or perhaps you could say thrown-up, version of the original.

Part of the reason that the original was so good was because of Paul Giamatti's outstanding portrayal of Marty Wolf. Despite being a Hollywood powerhouse and a very authoritative figure in cinema, Marty Wolf has a weak, childish, and downright weird side to him that is truly hilarious to watch. They were clearly aiming to create the same character in this film, but fell short. While Bostwick did decent with what he had, he clearly wasn't meant for this role. When they tried to show the "weird" side of Larry Wolf, it didn't work. It simply felt forced.

The Wolfs (both Marty and Larry) are what both of these movies are truly about. They are the cornerstone characters. Paul Giamatti is a tough, if not nearly impossible act to follow. And because of the weakness of Bostwick's character in the sequel, it really leaves the awful remainder of the movie hanging by a mere thread of terribleness.

In summary, this movie is really bad. When you consider that the moral of this film is the importance of telling the truth, it is quite ironic that this movie being branded as a "sequel" is a big fat lie itself. If you haven't seen either film, don't bother watching 'Bigger Fatter Liar.' However, if you have seen the original, I would actually recommend that you watch this one- it will show you how the original 'Big Fat Liar' was actually a surprisingly good film.

In love with it make a second movie of it

[akhan-81318 · 10/10 · 19 November 2017]

I just loved the story! once i watched it i couldn't stop watching it again and again its been weeks and i still love it, i don't get it how you people hate it no offense, but you people are old school or something how Ricky Garcia was acting at school wow that's totally me! I need a bigger fatter liar 2 because this story was amazing loved how the people acted when i saw the original one It was boring

the person who made bigger fatter liar the one i loved please make a second movie of this with the same characters thanks!

Awesome

[moviefreak1112004 · 8/10 · 15 July 2018]

I enjoyed the movie it was pretty funny. The acting was pretty good