Jim Carrey’s pants are flaming.

The funny white guy from “In Living Color” has made a career of doing stuff to the extreme (no intentional reference to Vanilla Ice here), and Liar Liar is no exception.

He plays Fletcher Reede, a high-powered, cutthroat attorney who will do and say anything to keep himself in good with his superiors.

He is also the not-very-attentive father of five-year-old Max (played by the adorable Justin Cooper, who might be perfect if he would only get rid of that Adam Rich haircut).

Reede, of course, does all kinds of smarmy stuff to let his son down, including missing his fifth birthday party, which just makes the boyfriend of his ex-wife Audrey look that much better.

The boyfriend is played by Cary Elwes (the same dude from The Princess Bride), and he is hilarious as the straight-laced guy who tries waaay too hard to be cool around his girlfriend’s kid.

So Max goes and makes a wish on his birthday cake that his father will not be able to lie for 24 hours.

The wish, of course, comes true and catches Reede in a precarious (sexual) situation with his boss. Silly kids, not knowing how to properly handle their supersensory powers.

You can imagine, with such an interesting plot, what Carrey is able to do with it.

Liar Liar, unlike the ha-ha-but-not-pee-your-pants-funny Cable Guy, does not try to get too deep or make Carrey do too much acting.

It’s like the filmmakers finally realized that Carrey’s true genius is in being funny, not being creepy.

Even before Reede is on continuous truth serum, his interaction with his co-workers and neighbors is hilarious.

And once Carrey must tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, he manages to insult everyone from his longtime secretary to every single member of the law firm’s board, the latter of which is a positively side-splitting sequence.

The film even manages to let Carrey display his wonderful physical talents (and I don’t mean in a sexual way — get your minds out of the gutter).

During a trial during which Reede is defending Mrs. Cole (played by the baby-voiced Jennifer Tilly), he is trying desperately to get a continuance from the judge: Reede has found that since he can’t lie, there’s no way he’ll be able to win the case.

So Reede manages to score a bathroom break, and while taking a leak, he gets a major inspiration.

He starts (literally) beating himself up in the bathroom, slamming his head against a toilet, punching himself in the face, etc. I have no doubt that most of the welts and bruises on his body after that scene were real.

I don’t want to give away any other funny parts, because to be honest, I know I couldn’t possibly do them justice in print.

Plus, half the hilarity of the rubber-faced man is watching him shape-shift.

So go see Liar Liar. Don’t drink too much pop during the movie, or your bladder will explode at the first sign of laughter. Oh, and make sure you stay for the outtakes, the last of which is priceless (honest to God).