Plot: Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) lives in a world just like our own, but no one lies there. Everyone is completely honest all the time. The first half of the movie shows Mark's sad life a struggling loser, and how he is insulted by his completely honest coworkers, his Mom, and Anna (Jennifer Garner), his date. His Mom get's sick, and he makes up a story about an afterlife to help comfort his Mom on her deathbed. The second half of the movie is very different -- it becomes a satire about religion. Mark becomes an international authority on the afterlife, and people hound him to learn more. Mark learns to lie to help his friends and perhaps to win the affection of Anna.
Review: The first half of the movie is pretty funny. I loved the trip to the old folks home, the witty dialog between Mark (Ricky) and his secretary Shelly (Tina Fey,) the waiter at the restaurant, and the surprising frankness of Anna on their first date.
I was surprised how serious the second half of the movie was. It was easy to see when he spins his story of an afterlife for his Mom, that Ricky Gervais was taking a grand swipe at religion generally and Christianity specifically. Later, the film makes points about how an afterlife affects morality and motivation.
The Invention of Lying's strong criticism of religion may offend some people. Others may find it a springboard to conversation. Still others may enjoy the movie on its surface level, and miss the sarcasm.
The weakness of the movie is that there are almost no complex characters except Mark (Ricky). Everyone else is simply playing out the compete honesty premise. It is significant that Anna rejects something that Mark says in the last scene and she ignores him -- which shows some progress toward critical thinking.
Cast: Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner
Written and directed: by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson
Rating: 3.5 flasks; Enjoyable and funny with serious issues. This is what movies should strive to do.
More: Funny and serious.
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