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The Invention of Lying Review
28 Sep 2009
Critics rating: 3 stars out of 5
Reviewed by Tom Charity , LOVEFiLM
The Invention of Lying

Whoppers. Fibs. Porkies. These do not exist. Nothing but the truth - that's the only world Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) knows.

In this world, where fiction is anathama, the only movies are historical accounts read – direct to camera – by a man sitting in an armchair. Advertisements promote Coke to those in the market for a sticky, sweet drink which rots your teeth, and Pepsi, “For when you can’t get a Coke”.

Moses might approve, but this is a tough and unforgiving society for someone like Mark, who isn’t blessed with good looks, isn’t particularly talented, fortunate, or well-liked. When he shows up for a blind date with Jennifer (Jennifer Garner), she is brutally frank about her first impressions, and indeed about his long-term prospects. She’s looking for a genetically-appropriate mate with a bank account to match. Mark hasn’t a prayer. Even the waiter can tell him that.

It’s not often we’re treated to original ideas, (or ideas at all for that matter), and The Invention of Lying is more than welcome even if it never really gets beyond that one great ‘Eureka!’ moment. Co-written and co-directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson, the movie has a lot of fun pointing out the innumerable ways we choose to live with lies, for our own self-esteem and self-preservation, and just to make things run a little more smoothly. It’s a great subject, and Gervais is more willing than most American comics might have been to press into darker, riskier areas.

The Invention of Lying: Ricky Gervais and Jennifer Garner

Of course there’s also a lot about his physical shortcomings, even from the very first line, a witty voice over narration that sounds more like a DVD commentary track, he’s referring to himself in the third person as a “chubby little loser”.

It’s a line that runs through the entire movie, and it’s the major obstacle to the conventional rom-com ending, love and happiness. Even after Mark’s great revelation – he becomes the first man in history to tell a lie, and thus acquires the status of a prophet – wealth and power aren’t enough to turn Jennifer’s head.

Self-deprecation comes perilously close to self-pity here. It’s not as if Mark is immune to qualities like beauty himself – beyond her looks, there’s nothing particularly attractive about Jennifer, she’s naïve, self-centered and superficial (though Garner succeeds in making her more sympathetic than she might have been).

Still, Gervais has more on his mind than sex. The big, central lie that changes everything for Mark and everyone else on earth is the solace he offers his mum on her deathbed. She won’t turn to nothing, he tells her. She will go to another, better place, where everyone is happy and no-one has to work. 
 

It's not often we're treated to original ideas, (or ideas at all for that matter), and The Invention of Lying is more than welcome even if it never really gets beyond that one great 'Eureka!' moment.

Soon enough, Mark is touting the idea of “the man in the sky” to the bewildered but vaguely comforted masses.

That’s an audacious joke to make in an American movie, and even if the laughs do thin out as this satiric reverse-parable goes on, you have to admire the filmmakers for going there.

Cameos by Louis CK, Tina Fey, Rob Lowe, Jonah Hill and several celebrity buddies don’t exactly deepen our emotional response to the movie but keep things ticking over. If I said The Invention of Lying was a triumph I’d be exaggerating, but it’s funnier and more provocative than most.
 

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