The Invention of Lying (2009)
The premise of "The Invention of Lying" is believe it or not about the invention of lying. It is an alternate universe where no one in the world can lie, or even knows what a lie is. The blunt comedy in the opening scenes is bitter-sweet, portraying clearly how awful a completely truthful world would be, and actually not very funny. But the comedy really kicks in once Gervais' character discovers the ability to lie, and starts to wreak havoc with it, and spread some happiness. Ricky Gervais is one of the funniest men in the world, and this shows in "The Invention of Lying". The cast is star-studded including Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, Jonah Hill and Tina Fey, and all of them are great Jonah Hill in particular was funny, playing a suicidal character who openly conversed about his attempts to kill himself. The religious sub-plot is also amusing, with the population pestering Mark about what exactly constitutes as a sin. The love story, despite sympathetic performances from Garner and Gervais, is not fleshed out enough to be believable. It just didn't quite work. The photography and art direction leaves the whole film looking quite washed out and flat. Visually, "The Invention of Lying" is just bad! Despite these problems this film is still better than the vast majority of the comedies out there. "The Invention of Lying" is a hilarious comedy that also offers some thought provoking truths.
- My Rating: 6.75/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 57% (5.8/10)
- IMDb: 6.5/10
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