Liar Liar took the concept of telling truth and lies and made a great comedy out of it, this one does the same and goes the other direction. It also gives Ricky Gervais the opportunity to not only star in his second leading role, after Ghost Town, but write and co-direct the film. Basically it is set in the present, but the world has not developed the ability to lie, so everyone is completely honest to each other, and loser film scriptwriter Mark Bellison (Gervais) is stuck in this world. He is insulted by co-workers Brad Kessler (Rob Lowe) and Shelley (30 Rock's Tina Fey), his mother Martha (Fionnula Flanagan), and out of his league crush Anna McDoogles (Jennifer Garner), oh, and he gets fired by boss Anthony (Jeffrey Tambor). Then one day when it looks like he will be jobless and homeless, Mark goes to a bank, and he finally invents the world's first lie to get more money than he was originally going to ask for. Mark tries to show Greg (Louis C.K.) and Jim the Bartender (Philip Seymour Hoffman) his new found ability, and they suggest what he could do with it, having sex didn't work like he'd hoped, so he gets rich lying in a casino, with everyone believing everything he says. Mark decides he needs to help others with his ability, so passing many people with problems he lies to make them feel better, and he also tries to win the affection of Anna. When Mark finds out his mother is dying, in her last moments of life he tells her a lie to make her feel better, about a land of beauty and stuff. Unfortunately this is the lie that everyone wants to hear the rest of, so Mark reads a list of ten lies he made up about a "Man in the Sky" and this paradise after death, pasted on pizza boxes to look like Moses-style tablets, and everyone buys it. He may be impressing, and on occasion upsetting people, with this world changing life, but Anna still can't see herself being with Mark, even though she feels very strongly about him, but don't worry, in the end, she makes the right decision. I will admit the ending is a little different to what I had hoped, Mark is still the only person in the world who can lie, well, and his new son, but I thought everyone else would develop the ability too, but never mind. Also starring Superbad's Jonah Hill as Frank, Jason Bateman as Doctor, Christopher Guest as Nathan Goldfrappe, EastEnders' Shaun Williamson as Richard Bellison and Extras' Stephen Merchant as Man at the Door. Gervais has created a very funny film with filled with truthful verbal diarrhoea, and also some very clever satire, e.g. advertising, religious beliefs. He excels as the appealing lead character we can all empathise with, and carries the film with a well-done direction, maybe not on the same level as The Office or Extras, but an enjoyable comedy. Good!
Review of The Invention of Lying
