Gervais Almost Gets Away with Lying
I was shocked this morning to learn The Invention of Lying was released on DVD not one but two months ago! So, I’m a bit late to the party here and feel like this could almost be another edition of Remember That Movie. My apologies.
The Invention of Lying is one of those ‘clever’ high-concept films whose premise can be summed up in a few words: in a world where everybody only speaks the truth, one man gains the ability to lie. The film works that premise rather well, but still falls short of brilliance. The Invention of Lying explores what a world without lying would be like: advertising is straight-forward, films are historical readings, dates lack any pretense, and the office environment can be cold and depressing.
The problem that occurred to me almost immediately is the film isn’t very clear about its own rules. It seemed to me that people weren’t simply speaking the truth; they were saying everything that came to mind. And it seems to confuse opinion or faulty memory with lying. The entire impetus of the main character’s (Ricky Gervais) discovery seems to ignore the possibility that he simply remembered wrong and made a mistake. I don’t want to spoil anything, but he tells someone an incorrect number and that someone believes him instead of a computer with the correct number. The movie is much more flagrant about its characters spitting out every thought that pops in their head. It quickly gets to a point in the beginning where it feels more like a drama exercise than a living, breathing world.
Thankfully, that all passes once it gets past the set-up and focuses on Gervais’s Mark Bellison. As mentioned before, Bellison begins to lie in a world without lies or deception. What’s surprising is he initially uses lying to improve the lives of others. But once someone in his life is faced with death, Bellison quickly comes up with the idea of death being the portal to eternal happiness. This is where the film takes a surprising turn for the rest of its run as a commentary on the fallacy of religion. Thankfully, the film has the intelligence to follow-up on the effects of creating such a ‘lie’. With this, The Invention of Lying takes a great idea and takes it to another brilliant level.
Unfortunately, while it picks up steam with this idea, it sort of flat lines by the end. The reason: a romantic comedy element is wedged into the film. The film begins with Bellison going on a date with Anna (Jennifer Garner). It’s a great scene that illustrates an excellent element of the world the film creates. Anna is immediately uninterested in Mark and treats him with indifference throughout the date. End of joke, moving on. No, for whatever reason, Mark returns to Anna sincerely wanting to prove himself a worthy mate. Because the film is mostly interested in the concept of a lie in a naïve world, we’re not given a reason why Mark desires Anna’s company. The romance is completely devoid of any heart or reason to care. At one point, Mark says of Anna that she’s the sweetest, most caring person he knows, but we never see that. Anna is kind enough to befriend Mark, but never ceases to criticize his genetic make-up or go much beyond skin-deep. The film eventually puts this relationship first above all the ideas it spent the previous hour or so laying out, thereby ending with the relationship’s unnatural conclusion and leaving the rest of the story behind. This is extremely unfortunate because I couldn’t care less about the relationship.
What’s more, the film doesn’t exactly stay faithful to its set-up. In the beginning of the film, Garner says whatever is on her mind. But by the end of the film, she’s clearly thinking things, but no longer shooting them out of her mouth. This isn’t a piece of character development; there is no reason for this change other than oversight. Also noticeable, the film seems to equate honesty with superficiality and cold cruelty. Yet, Mark seems like an outsider without the same capacity for callously blunt honesty as everybody else from the beginning.
There are some very funny moments and brilliant ideas in The Invention of Lying. It’s a shame it all gets compromised and fails its potential due to an uninteresting romantic comedy subplot. The result is a movie of two minds: one for the date movie and rom-com fans; the other for those looking for a fresh and unique comedy. The movie falls short on both fronts (especially the romance), but is recommendable for what it does offer: an intriguing commentary on religion.
Should you see it? Rent
6/10
The Invention of Lying is available on DVD and Blu-Ray.
The Invention of Lying is one of those ‘clever’ high-concept films whose premise can be summed up in a few words: in a world where everybody only speaks the truth, one man gains the ability to lie. The film works that premise rather well, but still falls short of brilliance. The Invention of Lying explores what a world without lying would be like: advertising is straight-forward, films are historical readings, dates lack any pretense, and the office environment can be cold and depressing.
The problem that occurred to me almost immediately is the film isn’t very clear about its own rules. It seemed to me that people weren’t simply speaking the truth; they were saying everything that came to mind. And it seems to confuse opinion or faulty memory with lying. The entire impetus of the main character’s (Ricky Gervais) discovery seems to ignore the possibility that he simply remembered wrong and made a mistake. I don’t want to spoil anything, but he tells someone an incorrect number and that someone believes him instead of a computer with the correct number. The movie is much more flagrant about its characters spitting out every thought that pops in their head. It quickly gets to a point in the beginning where it feels more like a drama exercise than a living, breathing world.
Thankfully, that all passes once it gets past the set-up and focuses on Gervais’s Mark Bellison. As mentioned before, Bellison begins to lie in a world without lies or deception. What’s surprising is he initially uses lying to improve the lives of others. But once someone in his life is faced with death, Bellison quickly comes up with the idea of death being the portal to eternal happiness. This is where the film takes a surprising turn for the rest of its run as a commentary on the fallacy of religion. Thankfully, the film has the intelligence to follow-up on the effects of creating such a ‘lie’. With this, The Invention of Lying takes a great idea and takes it to another brilliant level.
Unfortunately, while it picks up steam with this idea, it sort of flat lines by the end. The reason: a romantic comedy element is wedged into the film. The film begins with Bellison going on a date with Anna (Jennifer Garner). It’s a great scene that illustrates an excellent element of the world the film creates. Anna is immediately uninterested in Mark and treats him with indifference throughout the date. End of joke, moving on. No, for whatever reason, Mark returns to Anna sincerely wanting to prove himself a worthy mate. Because the film is mostly interested in the concept of a lie in a naïve world, we’re not given a reason why Mark desires Anna’s company. The romance is completely devoid of any heart or reason to care. At one point, Mark says of Anna that she’s the sweetest, most caring person he knows, but we never see that. Anna is kind enough to befriend Mark, but never ceases to criticize his genetic make-up or go much beyond skin-deep. The film eventually puts this relationship first above all the ideas it spent the previous hour or so laying out, thereby ending with the relationship’s unnatural conclusion and leaving the rest of the story behind. This is extremely unfortunate because I couldn’t care less about the relationship.
What’s more, the film doesn’t exactly stay faithful to its set-up. In the beginning of the film, Garner says whatever is on her mind. But by the end of the film, she’s clearly thinking things, but no longer shooting them out of her mouth. This isn’t a piece of character development; there is no reason for this change other than oversight. Also noticeable, the film seems to equate honesty with superficiality and cold cruelty. Yet, Mark seems like an outsider without the same capacity for callously blunt honesty as everybody else from the beginning.
There are some very funny moments and brilliant ideas in The Invention of Lying. It’s a shame it all gets compromised and fails its potential due to an uninteresting romantic comedy subplot. The result is a movie of two minds: one for the date movie and rom-com fans; the other for those looking for a fresh and unique comedy. The movie falls short on both fronts (especially the romance), but is recommendable for what it does offer: an intriguing commentary on religion.
Should you see it? Rent
6/10
The Invention of Lying is available on DVD and Blu-Ray.