The Invention of Lying

Written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson, The Invention of Lying is high concept film full of laughs.

In a world where everyone can only tell the truth... one guy finds that he can lie. And it changes his, and everyone else's, life.

Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) and Anna McDoogles (Jennifer Garner) are set up on a date by a friend but it's painfully obvious that in terms of looks and career progression that Anna can do better than Mark.

The Invention of Lying is an intelligent, cerebral film. It's shrewdly constructed as well as fiendishly original. And whilst there are some narrative problems it nevertheless often borders on brilliance.

However just as Mark stumbles when faced with people asking him why he knows so much about death, the film also stumbles quite heavily at the point where the subplot of the man-in-the-sky is introduced.

Perhaps Gervais was struggling to find his characters anything else particularly interesting to do but the second act of the film is confused. Happily the ending rounds out the film nicely and by the end credits all the silliness of the middle third is forgiven and forgotten.

Some viewers may find the film frustrating as they may feel that if someone was unable to lie it does not necessarily follow that they would be forced to tell the truth, at least not in the way that some of the characters do in the film. How there is something wonderful here, in the fact that it's refreshing and also very funny to see people speaking so truthfully. I feel that the film constantly flirts with brilliance but perhaps never really achieves it absolutely.

Gervais manages to reign himself in more than usual and gives a straight performance, stripping away some of the guff that he often subjects us to. Even his laugh is toned down. What we might be witnessing is his transformation into a really quite decent actor.

So there are some faults, a stuttering middle act, and some odd plot twists but the set-up, and the first act, is glorious and there are plenty of genuine laughs throughout the rest of the film.