It stars Jim Carrey as a lawyer who built his entire career on lying but finds himself cursed to speak only the truth for a single day, during which he struggles to maintain his career and to reconcile with his ex-wife and son whom he alienated with his pathological lying.

Fletcher Reede is a divorced defense lawyer living in Los Angeles who loves spending time with his young son, Max.

However, he has a habit of giving precedence to his career, breaking promises to Max and his ex-wife, Audrey, and then lying about the reasons.

This alienates him from Miranda and his secretary Greta, gets his car impounded when he confesses all of his traffic infractions and unpaid tickets to a police officer, and causes him an inability to bend the truth in court.

The main witness, Kenneth Falk, with whom Samantha has been cheating, is eager to lie in court to win, but Fletcher cannot suborn perjury.

Meanwhile, Audrey is planning to move to Boston with her fiancé, Jerry, and decides to take Max to protect him from future disappointments that Fletcher may cause him.

Knowing that he cannot refute the proof of Samantha's adultery, he successfully disputes the validity of her prenuptial agreement after overhearing her reveal her actual age, discovering that she signed it as a minor without parental consent.

This entitles Samantha to 50% of Richard's marital assets, allowing Fletcher to win the case truthfully.

Max makes a birthday wish, only to find that Fletcher and Audrey are kissing when the lights come back on.

[7][8] The film also surpassed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to have the largest March opening weekend.

[7] The film was ranked number one during its first weekend, beating both the Special Edition release of Return of the Jedi and Selena.

[citation needed] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars and stated, "I am gradually developing a suspicion, or perhaps it is a fear, that Jim Carrey is growing on me," as he had given negative reviews to his previous films Dumb and Dumber and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

DTS Full Screen and Collector's Edition Widescreen versions were also released on DVD the following year.