For its first 40 minutes or so, "The Invention of Lying" is one of the funniest films I've seen in years. It slows down from there, and the flying start becomes a walking finish, but the overall effect is splendid work by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson, who co-wrote and co-directed.
Gervais also stars as a man who turns the world upside down, although he lives in a world many of us would consider upside down because no one lies. That makes it tough for a fat kid with a snub nose to get along at work, or score with the chicks, which is his greatest ambition. But the dialogue is often hilarious as people reveal their inner feelings with an insouciant air. They're not trying to deceive anyone, or to make someone feel good. It's just the way they are.
That brings up more than one hilarious moment. My favorite is simple: Mark Bellison (Gervais) goes to pick up Anna McDoogles (Jennifer Garner) for a date. He knocks on the door, waits, knocks again. Anna opens the door, straightening her skirt. "I'm sorry," she says, her smile bright , her attitude perfectly casual, "I was just masturbating."
Just think of the ramifications.
It all changes when Mark lies to his dying mother. She doesn't want to go into a vast and empty space, and her son tells her she'll go someplace nice, with a good climate and all her friends.
When the word gets out, Mark is mobbed. "Who told you?" they ask about this heavenly place. "The man in the sky," he replies.
Score one for the atheists.
Mark loves Anna but she does not want to marry him because she does not want chubby, snub-nosed kids who would be miniatures of him. Rob Lowe, his rival at work, now becomes his rival in romance because he can practically guarantee that there would be none of those children around if Anna married him.
Things go on from there, with a lot of good work from some excellent comedians, like Tina Fay as a secretary who is outspoken about her feelings toward Mark, and Louis C. K. as Mark's best and most loyal friend. And the principals' mothers, Donna Sorbello as hers and the great Fionnula Flanagan as his, add a lot to the action.
Gervais and Robinson do all they can to keep things going, but given the premise of the plot and the hilarious beginning, their writing has to flatten out after a while. But the straight faces of the actors while the utter their outrageous lines, and the consistent underplaying, keep everything rolling for long and happy time.
At multiple locations
–Joe