Have you ever imagined a world where no lies exist? Well, in The Invention of Lying it’s a world where movies are simply a person reading out a script, no religion, and advertisements are well, honestly delivered. When Mark Bellison suddenly finds himself capable of ‘speaking something that wasn’t’, he inadvertently discovers ‘religion’.
While some people may be a bit offended, moderately offended, or outraged by this movie, this is somewhat a hilarious comedy with some romance in it. Unfortunately, I personally think that this flick could do better without the romantic element and rather focus on being a religious satire. Ricky Gervais stars as Mark Bellison who discovers lying when he told a bank clerk that he had $800 in his account instead of $300 just to avoid being evicted by his landlord.
The major lie that he did was when his mother was dying and scared of what would happen after death, which is eternal nothingness. To comfort her, Mark told her that after a person died, he/she will get a mansion and will have the chance to meet the people that had been dead and be together for eternity. Somehow, the medical staffs and the doctor heard about this, and hence the concept of “the man in the sky that controls everything’ was born.
As things develop further, Mark also struggling in his effort to pursue his love interest, Anna who somewhat cares more about the genetic makeup of a man rather than his character. She finds a perfect genetic match in Mark’s rival, Brad instead of choosing Mark.
Ricky Gervais played well here, although the rest of the cast were somewhat average for this sort of film. Notable cameos were Jason Bateman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Stephen Merchant and Edward Norton. Gervais’ portrayal of Mark was somewhat similar to his portrayal of Bertram Pincus in Ghost Town, a single, middle aged man, living alone, with an additional impression of a loser.
Overall, it’s a hilarious movie. Unique in its main story but as I wrote earlier, would have been better of without the romantic element. This movie simply shows that a world without lies is probably a lame place to live in. No imaginations other than truth and of course, probably no concept of ‘the man in the sky who controls everything’.
Final rating: 8.0
Credits:
Directed by Ricky Gervais & Matthew Robinson
Written by Ricky Gervais & Matthew Robinson
Starring: Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill, Louis C.K., Christopher Guest, Rob Lowe, Tina Fey, Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Bateman, Stephen Merchant, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton.
Release year: 2009
IMDB Rating: 6.6
