Reception
Produced on a budget of $45 million, Jakob the Liar was released on September 24, 1999. According to boxofficemojo.com, it opened in 1,200 theaters and made $2,056,647 in its opening weekend, placing 8th at the box office. The film's total domestic gross was just $4,956,401.
The movie presently holds a rating of "rotten" on Rotten Tomatoes with only 30% positive reviews and an average rating of 4.7/10. Roger Ebert gave the film two stars (out of four), comparing it to the similarly themed Life is Beautiful by saying, "I prefer "Life Is Beautiful," which is clearly a fantasy, to "Jakob the Liar," which is just as contrived and manipulative but pretends it is not." He went on to say about the acting in the film: "Williams is a talented performer who moves me in the right roles but has a weakness for the wrong ones. The screenplay and direction are lugubrious, as the characters march in their overwritten and often overacted roles toward a foregone conclusion."
The film earned a Razzie Award nomination: Worst Actor for Robin Williams (also for Bicentennial Man).
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