Review: The Invention of Lying (2009)
Somehow, 2009's The Invention of Lying managed to fly under my radar when it came out, so this is my original viewing and not a rewatch.
In it, humanity is unable to lie. There isn't even a word for telling a falsehood. Movies are documentaries, advertising is honest, and your date tells you upfront the they're not attacted to you so you're probably not getting lucky. Suddenly, a character played by Ricky Gervais discovered that he has the ability to lie, and his bank just trusts him and assumes their system is in error when he withdraws more than what is in his account in order to pay his rent.
The brutal honesty up until that point, and leading up to it, is absolutely both messed up and hilarious as the same time. And the movie is great until sometime around this point.
When his mother is dying, and is afraid, he basically invents religion, the afterlife, and all that. He becomes wealthy as a result, and the movie slowly slides into the "money can't buy happiness" trope, but I don't think it ever actually made it all the way there. It seems more of a critisism of religion by that point, and while some of the jabs at apologetics are humorous, it's no longer nearly as laugh-out-loud funny. And there are some touching moments as well because, despite their continued inability to lie, the other characters do manage to show some growth.
This one is worth the watch, espcially the first half or so. I'm not sure I am likely to revisit it, though, unless I forget I've seen it and decide to check it out again at a future date. It's just kind of the sort of movie that is enjoyable enough but forgettable at the same time.
Tags: reviews, movies, the-invention-of-lyinng
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