The Invention of Lying: Official Site
Frustrating.
The entire experience of sitting through The Invention of Lying was infuriatingly frustrating, especially considering that the movie’s premise was somewhat interesting: Ricky Gervais learns how to lie in a world where no one knows how to lie. It’s essentially a population comprised of extremely naïve and trusting people. Once Gervais learns how to lie, he discovers that lying allows you to manipulate and control those around you. Hi-jinks ensue.
Gervais attempts to create more of a dramedy than a laugh-out-loud comedy. The problem is that every time the mood borders on being serious, the movie slows down dramatically, coming close to a complete stop. It’s tiring watching a movie repeatedly try to kick-start itself back to life. And it’s a shame, because the movie is filled with cameos from great actors and comedians, including Tina Fey and Jason Bateman, who both have small roles. It should have worked, but it clearly doesn't.
Don’t get me wrong—there are funny moments. I did laugh out loud several times. There were a couple of chuckles here and there. I was not miserable throughout. But the negative far outweighed the positive, hence, the frustration.
Ultimately, if you take the curious lying issue out of the formula, you find that the story is clichéd and unoriginal. And, not to mention, there’s an odd sub-plot that appears to bash faith and religion, repeatedly. But even with that added “layer,” it was still just another cliché love story about a boy desperately trying to get a girl out of his league, which is not what I signed up to watch.
So, once again, Ricky Gervais disappoints. And the most frustrating part, out of everything, is that he’s proven before that his writing can be so much better than this.
Olga Navia was so annoyed just thinking about The Invention of Lying while writing this movie review that she decided not to award it any Hugh Jackmans at all.