The Invention of Lying
In a world where people speak the truth and have no concept ofdeception, a young man about to lose everything invents the 'lie' for personal gain. When every word is assumed to be the absolute truth, Mark easily lies his way to fame and fortune.
1979, Madison, Mississippi, USA
30 December 1976, Dorchester, Massachusetts, USA
17 March 1964, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
14 January 1969, Rye, New York, USA
11 July 1977, Los Angeles County, California, USA
3 April 1964
January 26, 2014
Light and disposable entertainment to be sure, but that trademark dry Gervais wit keeps the proceedings engaging enough.
September 29, 2011
Gervais' satiric barbs on religion, beauty, disillusionment and the basic human need for hope aim for our comfort zones, and they all hit home.
October 05, 2009
I think the first half hour would be almost impossible to sustain because it is so inspired.
October 29, 2010
The comedy is definitely there, but a heavy romantic focus drags it down in parts.
October 04, 2009
That a great comic idea does not necessarily make for a great screen comedy is the lesson for first-time writer-director-star Ricky Gervais as he comes unstuck.
October 05, 2009
It's bogged down in too many squishy romantic-comedy pieties.
October 02, 2009
Despite the ambitious scope of its premise, this confounding, disappointing and, in the end, depressing movie is content to devote 80 percent of its screen time to wondering who gets to kiss the girl.
October 05, 2009
The last third of the movie is as bad as anything I've seen this year, with the laughs trailing off, and half of the supporting characters, the zestier ones, being airbrushed from the frame.
September 29, 2012
As mildly amusing as it can be in places, it still won't convince non-fans that Gervais can play anything other than the fool.
October 27, 2010
While there is nothing wrong with a comedy engaging in religious satire, neither Gervais nor Robinson seems willing to take on the topic thoughtfully.
November 22, 2009
There are cycles of inspiration and rebirth, but the barbed promise of the early going loses its way in choices aimed at sentimentality rather than, as Harvey Kurtzman memorably put it, humor in a jugular vein.
June 29, 2011
The premise is clever but the film is not bold enough
