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    The Invention of Lying
Warner Bros.
Purchase Online
 


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The Invention of Lying is Ricky Gervais' ambitious comedy in a full-length movie. Yes it's smart and Gervais is energetic, entertaining, and captivating.... but the idea behind the movie was stretched too far.

Ricky plays Mark Bellison a screen writer, (a supposed bad one), a bachelor, and in his eyes a loser. He lives in a world where nobody can tell a lie, everyone speaks their mind all the time, and nobody holds ANYTHING back. The concept of saying something that's not true... a lie.... has not been thought of yet. When Mark hits a new low in his life and he's presented with an opportunity to say something that's not true for his benefit, he jumps at it. But here's the thing.... lies lead to more lies and one big lie can steamroll into the biggest lie ever... especially when the entire world has no reason not to believe you.

Mark has a social life.. Jennifer Garner plays his romantic interest in the film and as she adamantly states several times... she's way out of his league. Louis C.K. and Jonah Hill play his best friends. They're all surrounded and entangled in his lies and the fibs affect them all in big ways...  some beneficial and some not. Everyone in the film is affected by Mark’s lies.

The film's biggest asset is clearly Gervais... whenever he's on the screen he's great to watch. Even in the driest of moments he's entertaining. You could watch him brushing his teeth for ten minutes and I'm convinced he would find a way to make it funny. Garner is suitable as a romantic interest. She's required to be slightly shallow throughout the film and that's buyable. Jonah Hill, Rob Lowe, and Tina Fey also have roles in the movie but they're all cameo spots that don't get a lot of attention.

The film's biggest knock is it's concept. It's stretched too far with people saying what they want... It's one thing not to be able to lie; it's another thing to spew whatever, whenever you want in order for a laugh. We get it that everyone has to speak their mind. That's the point of the movie. But seemingly everyone thinks about Mark and everyone has to tell him negative things most of the time... It just doesn't work. That's one part of the movie that should have been held back slightly... that and it's religious angle... that just felt both pushed to either make it controversial or because that's what the story had to build into to give it any kind of climax.

The Blu-Ray features of this are good. The menu isn't great but the bonus content is. You get a making of feature and you get Ricky video podcasts which are just a look at making the movie. You also get some additional scenes and outtakes. This actually has more bonus content than most comedies and it's refreshing to see that. You also get a digital copy of the film when you purchase the Blu-ray.

The Invention of Lying has it's moments and it's good qualities. Gervais is a great actor and an entertaining asset to comedy, but the concept of the film is just stretched too far even for him to save. If you like comedies and you like Blu-rays with good bonus content this is a release you'll want to check out. Even if you're watching just wanting to see how Gervais' comedy can drive a movie it's worth a watch.


 

 

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