Lack of Invention
by Simon Abrams
The Invention of Lying
Directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson
Because I want to put down the slapdash, wasted potential of The Invention of Lying, Ricky Gervais' most recent American comedy after last year's vastly superior Ghost Town, I will expend as much time and effort in writing this review as Gervais and co-writer/co-director Matthew Robinson seem to have invested in their film. Which is to say, very little. I have no illusions about how obvious this is, considering that the film is about a world where people can't lie and tell each other what they really think at the expense of civility, but I'm lazy and I don't care what you think. As long as I'm enjoying myself, I feel confident that I too can just make this review up as I go and only give it a quick once-over before handing it over to my foolishly generous editor. Comic gold it ain't but it will get the job done, unlike this film. You may pull-quote me now.
Gervais stars as Mark Bellison, a mopey loser at odds with the world because he's ugly and nobody shares his interests. Anyway, so nobody likes David—sorry, I mean Andy—sorry, I mean Mark; he's about to lose his job, he has no money to keep his apartment and he has no girlfriend.
At the same time, in a world where everybody is superficial, brutally honest and very mean, Mark is the only nice guy. He wants to date Anna (Jennifer Garner), a hot but superficial girl that thinks he's ugly but likes him for his personality, a cliché that I'm sure somebody along the line must have thought was too cliché to use but then said, "Fuck it, it's a comedy." (Oh, and Rob Lowe is Mark's rival. He is surprisingly funny.) So Mark tells the world's first lie and uses it to make his life better but things quickly get out of hand, blah blah blah, go see the movie for more plot. So yeah, I'm actually pretty tired right now but I'll finish this review up soon, ok? The film is intermittently funny but mostly one-note, uninspired and bland, kind of like this review. There's not much life in it and it feels like it's being made up as Gervais and Robinson go. I think I might've mentioned that before.
Opens October 2
