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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