Short Take: Starts off with a bang, then loses aim

Directors: Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson

Screenwriters: Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson

Cast: Ricky Gervais (Ghost Town), Jennifer Garner (Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, The Kingdom), Louis C. K., Rob Lowe (Thank You for Smoking)

Length: 1h 40m

Synopsis: Mark Bellison (Gervais) lives in a world exactly like our own but with one exception – not a single person throughout human history has ever told a lie in any capacity whatsoever. Everyone always tells the truth no matter how much it might sting, or if it might make a conversation awkward. Mark’s boss has been telling him that he’ll probably be fired soon, and when it happens he’ll have to begin taking desperate measures to keep his life afloat. This is when he has his epiphany. He begins saying “what isn’t” to people in order to take advantage of them for his benefit. Things start off small and largely inconsequential (inventing tall tales, lying about account balances, etc.), but quickly get out of control.

Analysis: One of the first things that becomes apparent when becoming acclimated to a world where there are no lies is the great affect that such things have on our own day to day lives. Imagine for a moment a first date that is completely without any pretenses. Not only do both parties not go out of their way to instill ideas or thoughts in the other that they don’t want them to have, but they put forth extra effort in the opposite direction to make sure the other person knows exactly what they’re thinking and assuming all the time. In other words, not only do people not lie, but they don’t even hold their tongues in order to spare other people their feelings or sense of embarrassment. They are blunt and straightforward and don’t apologize for being so. The film’s beginning, which follows Mark and his date Anna (Garner), exposes dozens of would-be pretenses and highlights time and again the contrasting temperaments between their world and ours. Lying in real life never seemed quite so ubiquitous as it does after seeing what it might look like without it.

Once Mark “invents” lying (in all of its forms), naturally what he also discovers are the repercussions tied with the concept. One such repercussion is made example of, and that is a lie’s propensity to snowball. Little white lies of course present no problems, but when Mark attempts to comfort his sickly mother while she is in the hospital by telling her the fantastical things that await her in the afterlife, word spreads and he becomes the world’s most popular celebrity – even prophet – overnight.

While suspending a great deal of disbelief in order to enjoy the comedic facets of the story is easy enough, what becomes increasingly difficult as the story progresses is figuring out exactly what kind of unified commentary that Gervais and Robinson are trying to make. By bringing up the topic of religion (which could debatably exist in a world without lies, being that faith is based on beliefs and perceptions, and not facts) and making it a narrative focal point one assumes that there is an intended commentary on the subject and its relation to lying. On the surface this could come off as possibly offensive, however in the film’s defense the world it introduces seems deprecating of – for lack of a better word – ungrounded ideas, and Mark establishes positive promotion for religion’s uses. However religion plays little to no part in the story’s final resolution, which deals with the trouble of conflicting values one has when pursuing a life partner (more so from an attractive woman’s point of view). Ultimately, the world the movie creates is fundamentally problematic, and this would not be a problem (ironically) for its humor if it weren’t for the concept of lying being tied to the origins of religion. The two subject matters typically don’t mesh well, and The Invention of Lying continues this trend.

Rating: 6.0