Tina Fey Movie:

				Label: Warner Salesrank:
		MPAA Rating: Media: Theatrical Release

Editorial Review:
It's official: Ricky Gervais is a genius. He may not have cured cancer or discovered a new branch of mathematics, but having created The Office, Extras, and now The Invention of Lying has secured him a place in the history of comedy. The Invention of Lying imagines a world in which everyone unfailingly tells the truth; they don't even know what fiction is. Every thought, however humiliating or harsh, tumbles out unvarnished. Then one day, a desperate unemployed writer named Mark (Gervais) concocts a lie--and in a world where everyone is unfailingly honest, a lie is believed with total and absolute gullibility. Mark can get anything he wants...but the one thing he truly wants is the love of a girl named Anna (Jennifer Garner, Alias, Juno), and she's the one person he can't bring himself to lie to.

The Invention of Lying balances a brilliant overall idea with inspired comic bits and deft cameo turns by a star-studded cast (among the many famous faces in bit roles are Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, Jason Bateman, Christopher Guest, Tina Fey, Jeffrey Tambor, and more). The second half of the movie, which follows Mark's romantic pursuit of Anna, isn't quite as marvelous as the gradual unfolding of the situation and Mark's grappling with his strange new ability, but that doesn't keep the movie from being a unique and dazzling comedy. Simply not to be missed. Also featuring comedian Louis C.K., Rob Lowe, and Jonah Hill. --Bret Fetzer

The Invention of Lying [Theatrical Release] Reviews:
Do you know a liar like this? I do!
2009-12-13 - This is a very funny movie, especially because I have met people who lie so much that they try to recreate reality until it backfires. I appreciate the humor and absurdity that eventually becomes a spoof. Thank you for the levity when life with liars can get so intense.

This movie is BRILLIANT!
2009-12-13 - I loved this movie 100%! Fresh idea, funny delivery. Good acting.both Jennifer Garner and Ricky Gervais where amazing...Nice to just go out and laugh and not have to see people get killed. I also learned something.
There's plenty to enjoy, from Gervais' offhanded and charming performance to the strong supporting cast, including hilarious small roles for Lowe and Fey plus terrific cameos by Jason Bateman, Christopher Guest and other Gervais stalwarts.

Gervais plays screenwriter Mark, a "chubby little loser" who knows that the lovely Anna (Jennifer Garner) is out of his league as soon as they meet. She doesn't disabuse him of the notion. His life goes from bad to worse when he is sacked and faces the possibility of eviction.

Desperation is the mother of invention, and the world's first lie is told when he convinces a bank teller that there is more money in his account than appears on her screen. He now has discovered the ability to bend a trusting world to his will.

Gervais once again appears to be using comedy as therapy to work out his personal insecurities. His screen alter ego is consistently branded a fat, underachiever but you know the purpose of the film will be to celebrate the triumph of this underdog and ensure that he wins the love of a gorgeous woman.

The obvious scenario unfolds with a ready wit and an engaging sense of playfulness. I truly loved this movie!


Well made, but sad and hopeless
2009-12-06 - Is God just a desperate fib?

That's one of the main plot points in this movie, co-written and starring British actor/comedian Ricky Gervais.

The movie creates a world where everyone tells the truth - all the time, no matter what - with funny and often awkward results. Then Gervais' character stumbles upon telling the first fib.

After a few untruths, Gervais is confronted by his mother, dying in a hospital bed and full of fear for her future. In order to bring her some comfort, he drops what is presented to viewers as a big, fat, glow-in-the-dark lie: When her life on earth is done, his mother doesn't simply become nothing. She goes on to a happy existence living in a mansion and reuniting with all her already-dead loved ones.

Apparently, the world created by Gervais has no spiritual books such as a Bible, because this is amazing news to the hospital staff, who overhear the "lie" and demand to know more. Word spreads and soon, hundreds of people surround Gervais' house and he's forced to "create" a faith system with commandments (scrawled the back of pizza boxes) and a man in the sky dispensing favour and punishment.

One journalist, ignoring this very unfunny white elephant, wrote The Invention of Lying "recalls cinema classics like Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life - as much message as mirth." The message, according to this journalist, is lying isn't always a bad thing.

Unaware of Gervais' main plotline, my wife and I went to the theatre to watch this movie. When it finished, we walked out feeling sad.

For us, the message of The Invention of Lying is spirituality is a joke that exists only because we're all liars. And this is presented without a shred of evidence to back it up.

Where does the universe come from? The movie doesn't address this. What about a monumental figure like Jesus - his life and the revelations he told us about the nature of God? This is simply ignored. St. Paul, one of the writers of the Bible's New Testament, described how hundreds of people saw Jesus resurrected from the grave after his death on the cross. Apparently this doesn't matter, either.

How about the thousands of documented cases of near-death experiences that suggest an afterlife? They supposedly don't exist. A book like the Bible was written by more than 50 people over thousands of years; are they all liars? The casual, unspoken inference from Gervais is yes.

My wife's mother died not long ago and the hospital scene was a slap in the face for her (despite knowing the truth is quite different). Even for people who haven't lost a loved one recently, the message from Gervais is utter hopelessness. Unless we fool ourselves with a lie, all of us die and become nothing, he suggests. We'll never see loved ones again and we'll never meet God.

A classic along the lines of It's a Wonderful Life? Perhaps The Invention of Lying could have been that. But the former presented a compelling case for hope. The latter suggests only that we live for today and the person with the most toys when they die does, indeed, win. Win what, Ricky??

Mostly enjoyable and interesting
2009-11-24 - I enjoyed this movie, with the exception of the ending which felt artificially sweet. As a funny take on life through a particularly skewed lens this is a fun movie, but when it tries to be a romantic comedy it seems to veer off course a bit. I think if it had stuck with its strengths I might have rated it 5 stars. I know there are likely to be people arguing over whether the humorous assault on religion is offensive, but I won't weigh in on that. All I know is there were a lot of funny scenes through most of the movie so I liked it. Jennifer Garner was great, Gervais was pretty good too.



It all started in the beginning, this business of lying...
2009-11-06 - "The Invention of Lying" is a comedy written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson. "The Invention of Lying" has a very clever premise, what if we lived in a world where no one could lie. Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) is the first person to lie in this world. The odd thing though is that no one else catches on. If he lies they believe he is telling the truth because this is a world where no one lies. He had just reached the bottom after losing his job and being told to vacate his apartment but he turns this ability he has into an asset, and immediately goes out and starts to make some money at a casino. He wins all of the time because everyone believes it when he says he is the winner. He then goes about trying to make other people happy by telling them positive things about themselves.

All along he has also been trying to win over a beautiful, intelligent, successful woman, Anna McDoogles (Jennifer Garner). He gets a second chance with her given his new found wealth and positive prospects in life. It is when his mother is dying and he attempts to placate her fears about death by inventing a story about a wonderful afterlife that his life becomes very complicated, because others hear his story, and believe him, and want to know more. Before he knows it he has half the city at his doorstep. He eventually writes out some thoughts about the after life in order to calm the people. He tapes the pages he has written to two pizza boxes, which look like Moses' tablets, and speaks about an invisible man who is above them who controls everything. Of course, he is lying, but the people like what he is saying and go away believing him. The movie follows this line of thinking all the while pulling us along wondering if he is going to get Anna to be his wife. Ricky Gervais has perhaps made the pot a little too sweet and predictable given the ending which he delivers. Never-the-less this charming fable offers up a refreshingly witty satire about religion, romance, and the human condition.