The Invention of Lying
Dir: Ricky Gervais, Matthew Robinson
2009
****
I'm really not the biggest Ricky Gervais fan. I didn't like the Office, I can't stand his stand up and his laugh goes right through me. That said, I did like Extras and a couple of other things he's been involved with and now I can say I liked The Invention of Lying too. It's not laugh out loud funny, I did laugh, titter and smile but I didn't 'lol'. To be honest, I though there was a lot more to it than it just being a comedy. It is an excellent idea. This could have been a 90 minute film full of cheap shots, Liar Liar being the first film that comes to mind. Instead, it raises very clever questions about society, the way we think and the way we treat one another. It asks quite big questions about religion for a light-hearted Hollywood film and it questions peoples values, attacking vanity in particular. All in all, this is quite an anti-Hollywood film. That's probably what I like about it the most, it takes the piss without anyone realising. Could I be changing my mind about Gervais? Probably not, but if he continues writing great stuff like this then yes, definitely, maybe. The Invention of Lying is sly, brilliantly conceived and well executed and was a very nice surprise. I think the only criticism was the 'romantic' bit. It was handled fairly well but an unhappy ending wouldn't have gone a miss. Maybe I'm just a miserable sod. Post-production annoyance though with the fact they have blatantly air-brushed Ricky Gervais's head on the poster to make him look less fat, completely contradicting the films message! Doh!