Thursday, October 15, 2009

Film: The Invention of Lying

STARRING: Ricky Gervais (Night at the Museum); Jennifer Garner (13 Going on 30); Rob Lowe (Thank You for Smoking)
DIRECTORS: Matthew Robinson & Ricky Gervais (newcomer)

WRITERS: Matthew Robinson & Ricky Gervais (The Office, Extras)
PLOT: In a world where only the truth is told, Mark Bellison is the first person to lie and uses it to his advantage.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS
4 The first half of The Invention of Lying is genius. Everyone telling the truth is very funny. Coke’s truth in advertising, pre-sipped drinks and the real name of the old folks were stand-outs for me.
4 Unfortunately, the second half of the film falls short. The love story takes way too long to resolve. Things get a bit repetitious and even cliché. It’s too bad the story lost its way.

4What is interesting is not only does everyone speak the truth, they also speak everything that is going on in their mind; almost like an inner monologue. Does keeping things in your head constitute lying? The definition should have been made a bit more clear for the audience. There even seems to be a possible mistake where a waiter is attracted to Rob Lowe’s character but keeps his mouth shut. Double standard or mistake? Who knows?
4 I guess everyone wants to work with Ricky Gervais. There are some fun cameos by Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jason Bateman and Stephen Merchant. Hope I didn’t ruin it for you.
4 Love Gervais’ narration over the opening company credits. Great start to the film.


RECOMMENDATION
Wait for DVD
(At least the first half)


COMING SOON
Capitalism: A Love Story, Whip It

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