The Comparison of Two Comedies "Liar Liar" & "A Thousand Words"

Comedy has a way of making people laugh to certain subject that we struggle with in everyday life. They twist and turn it so that it is comfortable for people to laugh at and enjoy themselves. But what most people don’t know is that these movies are also trying to convey a message to its audience. Two great examples are “Liar Liar” starring Jim Carrey, and “A Thousand Words” starring Eddie Murphy.

Both of these films may have a different plot line, but they have a similar message behind them. In “Liar Liar”, released on March 21, 1997, with the director Tom Shadyac, Jim Carrey is a lawyer who stretches the truth and lies to get his way. But later on in the movie, he can’t lie and is forced to tell the truth. This conveys in the movie that people should not lie, even if it is their job, or to their family, no matter what. They get that message through with Jim Carrey’s slapstick comedy and hilarious dialogue, but when the movie gets to the more sympathetic scenes, the actors try to express through their characters the hurt or disappointment they feel when they are lied to or bluntly told the truth.

This movie also shows that you should also not tell the truth in the most blunt or hurtful way. Would you like to be told a certain version of the truth where you won’t get hurt (in certain situations), or have a nuke dropped on you cause the truth was devastating. Yes, lying is bad, but sometimes the truth can be bad as well. In this day and age people want to be told the truth but also not the hard truth. And it is weird because people don’t want to be lied to as well, but when you say the less-hurtful truth, they get mad at you and would say things like “How could you tell me this,” or other confusing things. Sometimes, people need to learn what is worth saying and not to lie about it, and this movie pretty much nails the message it is trying to communicate.

The second movie, “A Thousand Words”, released in March 9, 2012, with the director Brian Robbins, Eddie Murphy is a literacy agent who also stretches the truth to get what he wants as well. But when he lies to a certain person, a tree shows up in his backyard. And every time he says or writes a word, a leave falls off, and if all the leaves are gone, the tree dies and so does Eddie. I believe that this movie is a perfect way to communicate that you should think about what you say, and who you say it to. Your parents have always told you this, and it proves true every time you don’t think before you speak. Like in the previous movie, the character tries to adjust to this new lifestyle and tries to get around it. But they end up having to change to the new life-style, and they come out as a new person.

Eddie Murphy goes through the movie as a liar, and a bitter person towards his father that left him long ago, but at the end of the movie, he finds closure and thinks about what he says. Jim Carrey goes through his movie as a liar, somebody with an excuse for everything, and someone who does not spend time with his family, but at the end, he has no need to lie or to come up with an excuse for anything, and also spends more time with his family.

People should learn the messages from these films, because it gives a good thought on what to say, how to say it, and whether or not they should even say it at all. “My brain has no heart, and my heart has no brain. That’s why when I speak my mind, I appear heartless and when I do what’s in my heart I seem thoughtless”- Unknown