The Invention of Lying, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson - 8.4 out of 10

The Invention of Lying, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson

8.4 out of 10

The Invention of Lying has had far less success than The Office – which is the most watched production on Netflix – and the reaction of the critics has ranged from negative to lukewarm mostly, the film has a Metascore –average rating – of only 58 out of 100.

Whatever flaws the comedy could have, they seem to be more than compensated by the fact that the central idea that it promotes is worthwhile and thought provoking, the writer, director and star of the motion picture has a history of promoting atheism with aplomb and vigor.

In the first few scenes, Mark Bellison aka Ricky Gervais meets with beautiful Anna McDoogles aka Jennifer Garner for a meal out and the exchange they have is both painful in its authenticity and amusing, given that the premise for the society in which they live is that everybody tells the truth.

It may sound so exhilarating, but when the date says that this would be the only time you will ever meet, you are not going to have sex, indeed, not even a kiss, because your genes would just ensure that the descendants would have chubby cheeks and a pointy – or is it upturned – nose and thus you descend into depression or lose self –esteem.

Even the waiters – well, if it is everybody, why be perplexed – are so forthcoming with their truths that one wonders how can they keep customers in these restaurants, and they tell the overweight Bellison that he is out of the league of his date.

The comedy takes a turn for melodrama when the hero learns that on top of this loss, the revelation that he will not see the gorgeous woman again, he is about to lose his job and both Shelley aka Tina Fey and Brad Kessler are mocking and abusing the poor, unsuccessful screenwriter who is told by the landlord that he has to pay the rent or be evicted.

When he pleads for some space, since he only has three hundred dollars in the bank account, the insensitive property owner says that he should rent a truck with that money and get his things elsewhere.

Resigned, Mark Bellison walks to the bank, where he wants to take out all his deposit, but the software system is down and thus he has to state the amount he has and comes to:

The Invention of Lying

He understands that he can say eight hundred, instead of the three hundred he has and it would available to him, even after the information system says that he only has three hundred…the teller is sure that there is a mistake in the computer…nobody lies after all.

With this revelation, the hero walks to the bar and talks to his friends, Greg aka Louis C.K. and Jim the Bartender aka Philip Seymour Hoffman, trying to explain the new concept of lying, in a very amusing scene, where he pretends he invented the bicycle, he has lost an arm and many other preposterous things, only to be believed, because: Lying had just been invented, but only Mark knows about it, the others are not adapted yet.

The big idea that takes on religion, although not as brilliantly as the best comedy ever, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, comes when the main character is sitting near his dying mother, who is aghast at the idea that she is about to die and all there is in front of her is an eternity of nothingness and the son creates the known notion of paradise, the people that are waiting there, the joy of heaven and all the other lies that we know.

What was intended as a story to make his parent depart with an easy heart becomes a worldwide phenomenon, for the doctor, the nurses have heard, want to know more and soon afterwards the media and the population finds and waits for Mark as he returns to his house, with Anna, who is closer to him now that he has become more confident, has access to money and so many other venues with this new Invention.

Pressed by the crowd gathered to hear his tale of life after death, the new prophet writes on two Pizza hut cartons, and, in the manner of Moses, he delivers the familiar notions of The Man in the Sky that is responsible for the good and the bad that happens, would give everyone a mansion in paradise, but only if the human has not made more than three serious mistakes.

Some innovative elements are brought to the Eden that we know, for there is ice cream in this new concept, albeit people find reasons to complain over anything, including the chocolate flavor.

Some of the atheism of Ricky Gervais finds its way in the plot, for he discovers that quite a few people abandon their life on earth – which is the only one they have – and wait for heaven, like another friend, Frank aka Jonah Hill, who sits almost all day, watches television and is getting ready for heaven.

A genius of psychology, Nathaniel Branden, argues in his Psychological Effects of Religion that the aforementioned abandonment of this life is just one of the negative effects that faith has.