Cinematography:
Tim SuhrstedtComposer:
Tim AtackCast:
Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill, Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Rob Lowe, Christopher Guest, Jeffrey Tambor, John Hodgman, Louis C.K., Stephanie March (more)VOD (5)
Plots(1)
In a world where people speak the truth, a screenwriter invents the "lie" and goes on to change not just the nature of movie-making, but creates the basis of religion. After much effort, he also gets the girl he loves. "The Invention of Lying" takes place in an alternate reality in which lying -- even the concept of a lie -- does not exist. Everyone -- from politicians to advertisers to the man and woman on the street -- speaks the truth and nothing but the truth with no thought of the consequences. But when a down-on-his-luck loser named Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) suddenly develops the ability to lie, he finds that dishonesty has its rewards. In a world where every word is assumed to be the absolute truth, Mark easily lies his way to fame and fortune. But lies have a way of spreading, and Mark begins to realize that things are getting a little out of control when some of his tallest tales are being taken as, well, gospel. With the entire world now hanging on his every word, there is only one thing Mark has not been able to lie his way into: the heart of the woman he loves. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (4)
Most of the comments claim that the film is significantly better in its first half and then falls into helplessness. I see it exactly the opposite way, the first third of the film tries to be a comedy and squeezes out actually the only decent idea (of course not original) about a world that does not know lies and pretense. But the joke is often barren and belongs more to the depicted world is unfinished, I remember how many weeks, even months, it took Monty Python to write Life of Brian, whereas here the screenwriter didn't try that hard. In the second third, when our hero learns to lie, the film rises to higher levels, because after the first lie, what else is born but religion? On the other hand, even here, the potential is much greater than the creators could achieve. It's like if you inherited a million dollars and had fun throwing the banknotes into the canal. While the comedic aspect doesn't work, at least not as one would expect, the film is much stronger in terms of romance. That storyline escalates in the last third and although it is not about discovering brand new concepts, I can say that the romantic storyline completely stood out for me, even though I can imagine a better actress than the overall average Jennifer Garner. In general, the more serious the tone this film chooses during its runtime, the better it works. Overall impression: 55%.
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Apart from it being a pretty good idea I don't see many positives here unfortunately. Ricky Gervais is definitely not one of my favorite actors and I often find him quite unappealing. He doesn't fit the lead role for me at all. And since this film is based mainly on him, there was nothing here that made a good impression on me. Not to mention the half-baked situations, which the filmmakers definitely should have managed. 1.5 stars.
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I give it four stars, and I like giving them. The Invention of Lying is an atypical romantic comedy that is smart, funny and touching at the same time. Ricky Gervais proves that when it comes to the driest possible humor, he has no competition. But he surprised me with the way he handled dramatic positions (the scene with the mother). The film should be taken as a kind of message, a journey into the strange human soul living in a strange world of truth, and as a humorous subject for healthy reflection. Then it works great.__P.S. If you liked Gervais' Ghost Town, don't hesitate for even a second.__P.P.S. If you didn't like Ghost Town, then hesitate... But give The Invention of Lying a chance anyway. You may be pleasantly surprised. I'm not lying.
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I believe that more could have been extracted in the comedy genre from a world in which everyone speaks their minds out loud and cannot lie, with one enlightened person acquiring this ability and becoming rich as a result. There were a few bright moments and jokes, but otherwise it's a classic silly comedy that doesn't really stand out in anything, and for my taste there wasn't even as much humor in quantity as I would have hoped.
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