The Invention of Lying

The Invention of Lying (2009)
Directed by Ricky Gervais & Matthew Robinson
Starring Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill

Middle of the road comedy about a chubby loser who lives in an alternate reality where no one has ever lied, in this world everyone is so truthful its hurts and insults are what makes up most of the jokes. Remember Liar, Liar?

A man discovers 'how to lie' on his mothers death bed, when watching her suffer, he lifts her fear of dying by making up a story about eternal happiness; seeing all of your family and friends, living in a mansion (etc) when you die. This scene is very emotional, Gervais is crying for real, its top notch stuff and nails the whole point of the movie. Wish there were more scenes like this in the film. The doctors and hospital hear him say these words and the message spreads; pretty soon the whole world believes Gervais and he becomes a blue collar messiah (no-one assumes he is lying because no-one even knows what a lie is).

Parts of this film draw from The Life Of Brian, Gervais grew under that influence. Ricky makes best out of an average screenplay that he co-wrote.. There is a love story that frames the film but Garner never seems to Gel. She is stiff in straight comedy, in my opinion. Rob Lowe plays a characters so slimy he stands out like a sore thumb with his scene chewing.

There are some touching moments in this movie; like in Ghost Town, Gervais knows how to connect to our inner loser, he is good at making us cringe in humiliation. I'm big fan of his tv work and stand-up, but the movies he makes are so-so, still I enjoyed it even if let down by its predictable ending. I wasn't watching this for great cinema just to have a laugh and I did. Im sure Mr Gervais would be happy with that.

DVD rental for sure.