Liar
Liar: The Unspoken Aftermath Explained
The 90s classic Jim Carrey comedy Liar
Liar is an amazing example of oddball humor wrapped in an admirable
morality lesson. Carrey’s character, divorced attorney/dad Fletcher Reed, known
both for doting on his son Max and his extreme dishonesty, receives a harsh
lesson in humility after breaking his promise to attend Max’s birthday.
Heartbroken, the boy makes a wish that for just one day Fletcher can’t tell a
lie, initiating a series of farcical events as the latter takes on a major
divorce trial. Yet, despite the oddities and shattering failures he encounters,
Fletcher learns the value of honesty as well as how awful he’s been to both Max
and his ex-wife Audrey, factors that ironically hit hardest after his victory
in court turns his client into a monster out to destroy her ex. He ruins his
career and even winds up in jail because of his actions, but he’s able to
restore his family and restart, making the film’s legacy on the virtues of
honesty that much greater.
However, one element of the movie
that’s always nagged me: his client, Samantha Cole, and the way the film left
her sauntering off victorious. Sadly, her tale is only just beginning, and the
filmmakers should’ve explained what would’ve happened later…nothing of which
would’ve been in her favor. To better understand this, let’s go over the facts
of the case. Samantha was divorcing her husband, Richard, after being caught
cheating on him (7x too). Unfortunately, the case against her looks ironclad
because she signed a prenup that said, if she commits adultery, she’s entitled
to nothing. However, she wins on a technicality: she lied about her age to get
married, meaning she was 17 AKA a minor at the time, and, according to
California law, a minor can’t enter a legally binding contract (like a prenup)
without parental consent. Therefore, the prenup is void, standard community
property applies, and she gets half the marital assets, or $11.395 million.
Yet, she changes her mind about giving Richard sole custody of their kids,
hoping to get more via child support, courtesy of the spiel Fletcher spun in
his office earlier. Thus, she storms off with the kids screaming and crying for
their dad as court adjourns.
It’s an ugly moment, but audiences
should know something: her future is bleak. To prove Samantha was underage when
she got married, Fletcher had her admit on the stand she lied about 3 items on
her driver’s license. The first 2 were her hair color and weight, which no one
will fuss over, since hair can be dyed and weight fluctuates, but then there’s
the 3rd item—her birthdate. That’s different, mainly because, when
you get your license, there’s a big clause on the bottom of the form that says
it’s a crime to “willfully and knowingly” falsify information on it. Since she
admitted to doing just that on the stand AKA on the record, there’s no excuse
and no defense. More importantly, she’s been lying like this for 14 years (she
got married at 17 and is now 31), meaning she’s lied on that same form every
time she renewed her license, adding to her list of crimes. Worse, she lied
about her age on the prenup too, which is another official document (i.e.
signed under the pains/penalties of perjury), so that’s another charge. Chances
are, given her level of dishonesty, she probably also lied on things like her
insurance, the title to her home or cars, and many other legalities involved in
her marriage. Put bluntly, she’s going to jail, and the court will no doubt
shoot down her custody claim anyway due to the adultery and her dishonesty; the
judge will probably permanently revoke her custodial rights too, especially
after Fletcher’s yelling about Richard, “This man is a good father!”
Yet, the problems for Samantha are
only just beginning. Besides going to prison, she’ll also lose her driver’s
license and have to pay hefty fines/penalties for the perjury; the DA might
even charge her with conspiracy, an open-and-shut case given the aforementioned
continual lies about her license, known as “acts in furtherance”. Another issue
with those lies is the stigma of perjury, one of the cardinal sins of the legal
profession which, according to the rules of evidence, for a set period (10
years if I recall correctly) after she’s released from jail, her conviction for
those charges automatically comes in as evidence if she’s in court again; the
judge can’t throw it out during that time without risking grounds for appeal,
either. It’ll follow her the rest of her life, even when the news becomes
discretionary.
Another
penalty set to be taken in account is strictly financial. Samantha’s legal
bills are enormous (Fletcher’s boss earlier mentioned the case “is worth a
truckload of money”), an amount that’s about to increase due to the custody
case and all her criminal charges, and she can’t get alimony from her ex due to
her deception (marital licenses are legal documents too). That doesn’t even
include the taxes she’ll have to pay on her settlement (California’s are some
of the highest in the country), taking another massive bite out of her wallet.
And there’s one more bit to consider: if she lied on her insurance, whomever
her carriers are will cancel her coverage before coming after her, meaning
she’ll have more legal bills and probably hefty damages to pay to those
companies. With that much scandal, it’s highly doubtful her lover, Kenneth,
will stick around, so that’s another bit of flavor in her serving of humble
pie.
So, let’s sum it all up: Samantha
will have lost her marriage, children, credibility, lover, driver’s license,
and insurance…all in one shot. Furthermore, she’ll have a criminal record,
mounting legal bills, a bulletproof case against her for insurance fraud, and
explosive tax bills. Point blank, by the time everything is said and done, her
$11.395 million purse will probably have dropped to barely 1/100th
that, likely less, leaving the ex-Mrs. Cole in her own worst-case scenario—“a
31-year old divorcee on welfare.” Poetic justice is therefore served,
especially in a film where those who lie are exposed and humiliated. Thus, for
all those who worried about the kids, there’s no need, for they’ll soon be back
with their dad, and mommy will be occupying a jail cell while trying to figure
out how to make ends meet for the foreseeable future.
Andrew Nickerson
Andrew's originally from Massachusetts, and is a
lifelong movie fan. He has a BA in History (English minor) from UMASS Lowell
and JD from Mass. School of Law. He's self-published a novella on Amazon, and
printed 1 article apiece on Polygon, Anime Herald, and Pipeline Artists, 2 more
on Ariel Chart, 1 article and 1 short story on Academy of Heart and Mind, a
short story in Evening Street Review's 2022 Winter Edition, an article in the
August 2023 edition of "Alice Says Go F*** Yourself" online magazine,
and recently printed another article in NewMyths' September issue.