Movie Review

Leslie Herring

Lab #13

“The Invention of Lying”

Warner Brothers

Produced by: Lynda Obst, Oliver Obst and Dan Lin

Oct. 2, 2009

Honesty is always the best policy, but not in this movie.

“The Invention of Lying” is one film that takes dry humor another level. The character’s wit has you laughing-out-loud in the first minutes of the film. With its morally questionable dialogue, it may be slightly offensive to those who are religious; nevertheless, its humor is outrageously amusing.

“The Invention of Lying”, starring Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner and Jonah Hill (co-written and co-directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson), is set in an alternate reality in which lying does not exist. That’s right, every person in the world tells the ultimate truth at all times. The comedy is co-written and co-directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson.

Though it seems refreshing to live in a world where no one lies, Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) finds himself drowning in truthfulness. Because no one is capable of telling a lie, people are quick to express their thoughts and are unconcerned about how it affects others. This is one aspect that makes this film hilarious.

Before discovering the power of a lie, Mark appears to be your average overweight, middle-aged screenwriter trying to keep his head above water. His lack of fortune, handsomeness and fame enables Anna McDoogles (Jennifer Garner) to discourteously refuse a second date with him almost immediately after they meet.

Mark is surrounded by the brutal truth. His highly blunt secretary (Tina Fey) confesses that she loathes him while his co-worker and nemesis, Frank (Jonah Hill), publicly humiliates him. After loosing his job, the woman he loves, and the death of his mother, Mark uses his imagination to change his fate.

After discovering the power of a lie, Mark’s luck begins to change. As a result of lying repeatedly, he redeems his dignity by inventing the “man in the sky” that controls everything in life. Mark tells the whole world on television about a blissful afterlife that he has invented. He says that everyone has three chances of purposefully doing bad things. According to his “plan”, when people die, they all get mansions and have a limitless amount of ice cream while being surrounded by everyone that ever loved them. As a result, he becomes the most famous person on the planet.

What makes his lies so hysterical is that everyone believes every ridiculous thing lie he says. However, Mark’s twisted habit allows him to lie to everyone except the person he loves the most.

Though the film’s crude humor is brilliant, it makes a mockery of Christianity by alluding to God as the “man in the sky” who makes all bad and good things happen. Also, pizza boxes are used for Mark’s “ten commandments” and churches are labels as “quiet places to hear from the man in the sky.” The moral message of the film is found in the rules of society that Mark rejects. The writers create a superficial society in which a person’s identity is found in money, power, fame and appearance.

“The Invention of Lying” challenges viewers to question not only their religious beliefs, but also their motivation for decision-making.

Word Count: 538