The world of direct-to-video films is a fascinating one, as it is home to some of the strangest and most bizarre films you can imagine. The finest example can be found within the direct-to-video sequel. There’s of course the countless sequels towards Disney’s classic animated films, and while those were discontinued after 2008, the idea is still alive and well.
Generally, the way a direct-to-video sequel works is that it is often based on films that were modest successes but weren’t popular enough to warrant getting another release in theaters, resulting in the film getting a mild push only in video stores, generating mild profits for the company. But there are some bizarre ones sprinkled throughout the landscape. Films that have little to no relevance among the global pop culture will all of a sudden get another installment, often more than a decade after the original generation of viewers have since then moved on from the original product. Such an example is found with the 2017 direct-to-DVD release Bigger, Fatter Liar, a sequel to the 2002 film Big Fat Liar.
For those who may not know, Big Fat Liar was a children’s film directed by Shawn Levy, who would later direct the Night at the Museum movies, written by former Nickelodeon producer and foot fetishist Dan Schneider, and starred Frankie Muniz, Amanda Bynes, and Paul Giamatti. The film focused on a teenage boy, played by Muniz who frequently lies. He gets his school paper stolen by a greedy Hollywood producer, played by Giamatti, who turns it into a movie. This leads to the boy, alongside his friend, played by Bynes, traveling to LA to make him admit the truth, and comic hi-jinx and pranks ensue.
It was an okay enough film for kids, with some decent one-liners, likable charm, and enjoyable performances. While it made an okay profit at the box office and has aired a number of times on places like Disney Channel, it hasn’t really hit any sort of cult status and didn’t really get any major following, largely being considered a fun, but cheesy product of the early 2000s remembered only by the kids who were around when the film initially came out.
And yet, 15 years later, a sequel was made and was put out to both DVD and Netflix, with none of the original cast and crew. Simply put, Bigger Fatter Liar’s existence just astounds me. The first Big Fat Liar wasn’t all that great to begin with and isn’t looked back as a cult classic like other films that got direct-to-video sequels long after their predecessor’s releases, like Mean Girls. And even those who did watch the original film have grown up to an age where these types of tweenage shenanigans wouldn’t appeal to them in the slightest, so it’s not like there’s any major nostalgia factor. But the fact of the matter is that the few highlights of Big Fat Liar were due to the film’s cast and script. With Dan Schneider not penning this film, Paul Giamatti being too good for this, Amanda Bynes retiring from acting, and the producers somehow unable to get Frankie Muniz, whose career has been nonexistent for years, to even cameo, what’s the point of making this movie in the first place? This film literally has no right to exist, and yet it does.
But the strangest element of all within this enigma of a movie is with the actual events within the film itself. Because in spite of the fact that this film was originally titled Big Fat Liar 2 during production, this hardly can be considered a sequel. It is beat for beat the exact same movie, with the only major change is that instead of a stolen essay turned into a movie, the kid gets his idea for a video game stolen and turned into an app. But for the most part, it’s beat for beat the exact same movie. Kid frequently lies to get away with stuff. Kid meets an adult who’s also a chronic liar, takes the kid’s idea and passes it off like his own. Kid travels to California and messes with the adult’s life, while the adult’s employees help in enacting revenge. Adult reveals he stole kid’s idea, kid gets royalties and success, adult becomes a clown. It’s the exact same film, to the point where I believe even some of the film’s jokes are copy-pasted from the original.
And yet somehow, this “sequel” is even worse. Not only are the lead actors far less enjoyable, although everyone does seem like they’re trying their best, this film has a much more cruel and mean-spirited bent towards it. I admit my memory of the first Big Fat Liar is fuzzy, but Frankie Muniz was not only more likable, but only told some white lies to get out of minor situations. The new kid, played by some doofy teen named Ricky Garcia, is a complete asshole. He steals money from his dad, plagiarizes his essay, uses the handicapped parking spots, and not only does he pull pranks on the video game producer, played by Barry Bostwick, he also steals his credit card information, and abuses all the money on his cards. It’s a huge crossing of the line, and really makes him out to be just as bad as the supposed antagonist. It also doesn’t help that a good chunk of the rest of the film makes no sense. Why would this kid’s make-up essay be concepts and ideas for an app game? Why is the gaming media so obsessed over the release of a phone app? Why does this school have computers from the ‘90s? Why is the kid’s friend’s parents stereotypes of hippies? How does this game even work? Why is Barry Bostwick’s character a Brony?
All these questions and more don’t get an answer. And even after watching this film, I still don’t understand why this was made. Was there any demand? Was Universal so desperate to get more cash that they quickly generated this cheap unfunny rehash of a film few remember? I’ll never truly know, but in a way that’s why I like the world of Direct-to-DVD so much. There’s so many odd ideas and concepts slapped onto Walmart shelves and Netflix queues that finding oddball concepts like these, even if they aren’t fully successful, are still interesting to watch.
