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Deception pays off in ‘Invention of Lying’
Neil Pond
American Profile
November 3, 2009
1 comment
The Invention of Lying / Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner & Rob Lowe / PG-13
Imagine a modern-day world in which everyone tells the truth all the time and people say exactly what they’re thinking.
British funnyman Ricky Gervais co-wrote, co-directed and stars in this wickedly clever comedy about such a bluntly transparent society. In this movie’s “alternate reality,” life has evolved without any concept of dishonesty. Unattractive and dull people are told they’re unattractive and dull; dating is often a brutal exercise in rejection. Movies are all unembellished narratives about documented historical incidents. Television commercials and politicians must always tell the truth--which often leaves them with nothing much to tell at all.
Gervais plays unlucky-in-love Mark Bellison, who stumbles upon a revolutionary new concept: making things up.
In this world, lying is so alien there isn’t even a word for it--Mark describes it as saying “something that isn’t.” Trying out his new trick, he tells a couple of friends a series of increasingly outrageous lies about things he done and invented. To his amazement, they believe him!
Mark’s lies grow, making him wealthy and wildly popular. And why not--he tells people exactly what they long to hear, even if it’s completely false. Most exciting of all, his dexterity in deceit helps him win the heart of the lovely Anna McDoogles (Jennifer Garner), a former blind date who’d previously brushed him off.
But after Mark tries to ease the mind of his dying mother with what he thinks is just another harmless whopper, it puts him in the middle of a big predicament. Increasingly, he must perpetuate something he doesn’t believe--but everyone else desperately wants to.
Gervais, the British funnyman behind the original BBC version of the hit TV comedy “The Office,” rounds up an impressive supporting cast--including Rob Lowe, Tina Fey, Jeffrey Tambor, Jonah Hill, Christopher Guest and Philip Seymour Hoffman--to help deliver his barbs on religion, beauty, disillusionment and the basic human need for hope. His satiric arrows aim for our comfort zones, and they all hit home.
Gervais’ premise--that falsehoods serve a purpose in the real world--will make you think. A comedic parable that depicts the extremes of both honesty and fabrication, “The Truth About Lying” is a great discussion starter once the chuckles subside. |
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Jes Moe Flotsam
November 5, 2009 8:30am
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