The truth can be REALLY funny just don’t lie to me

The world in The Invention of Lying is really boring. There’s no fiction -- no action movies, no Twilight, no make believe. Everything is always the same and everyone always tells the truth. What a nightmare! No Twilight?!?!?! But seriously, can you imagine a world where you were honest all the time? One of my favorite conversations happens when Ricky Gervais arrives to pick up Jennifer Garner for their date. She greets him by saying, “Hi. You're early. I was just masturbating.” WOW! Advertisements are pretty funny too. Think of a world with no Super Bowl Half-Time show!

Ricky Gervais’ character, Mark Bellison, realizes that he can say things that “aren’t”. These people don’t know what a lie is because it’s never existed before. Mark tells small lies that anyone in his position (chubby, little loser -- his words, not mine!) would. He schemes after small things like rent money, sex from women way out of his league, and a promotion at work. These little lies aren’t really hurting anyone. Things don’t really start to get interesting for Mark until he tells his dying mother not be afraid of death because she’ll find eternal happiness in the afterlife. The man in the sky told him so. Did you know this movie was about God… I mean, “the man in the sky”? I didn’t . But I guess the humor in a movie about everyone being brutally honest for 99 minutes would’ve gotten pretty old pretty fast.

Mark essentially changes the world and gives people of Truth-town something to believe in. Some listen to his pizza box commandments while others say, “F it, I’m going to have a mansion when I die so what’s the point of living a good life now?” The film really transforms into a PSA for free will, looking past the surface, and being honest about what’s in your heart. I don’t say this like it’s a bad thing, I’m just equally appalled and impressed by the marketing folks behind The Invention of Lying because I was genuinely tricked and lied to about what I was going to see. Sneaky suckers!

All in all, it was oh…ok. Just don’t trick me like that again! Honesty is always the best policy.