‘Lying’ has today’s top comedians, but still manages to fall flat
Rating: 
“Invention of Lying” represents the directorial debut of Ricky Gervais, the genius behind the original British “The Office,” as well as “Extras” and some very good standup comedy. He cowrote and codirected the movie with Matthew Robinson, and Gervais stars as well. The movie’s high-concept plot concerns a parallel universe in which the human race is unable to lie, and everyone speaks with brutal honesty at all times.
Just like his previous film, last year’s flat but critically revered “Ghost Town,” “Invention” finds Gervais as the only person in the world with a certain power. Instead of seeing ghosts, Gervais learns that he, and he alone, has the ability to lie, and can turn the idea to his advantage — in order to profit financially, improve his career, and impress his dream woman (Jennifer Garner).
The film has a lot of fun with the premise, one that could lead to endless hours of dorm-room philosophizing. Gervais works for a movie studio that only produces historical documentaries, because fiction is a lie. In one scene, the characters visit a casino, which pointedly does not offer poker — how could it, in a world without bluffing? And a lot of things characters blurt out are generally hilarious, although “Saturday Night Live” got there first in the late ’80s with a nearly identical bit called “The Honest Planet.”
Then, about halfway through, the film takes an abrupt turn and becomes a satire about organized religion. Gervais unwittingly creates an entire religious mythology that sounds suspiciously similar to Old Testament monotheism, resulting in him becoming a modern-day prophet.
The film’s two ideas are both great on their own, but the problem is with the execution, and their combination. It doesn’t really fit together, and it’s also hard to see what the filmmakers are trying to say — that all religion is a lie? That religion and truth can’t coexist?
That they can? The no-one-can-lie part and the everyman-creates-a-religion idea would probably have worked better as two different movies. Not to mention, Gervais and Garner’s chemistry leaves much to be desired.
Gervais is settling into the Chris Rock pattern of establishing a completely different — and much less funny persona — for his movies than the one he uses in his TV and standup work. It’s unclear why comics feel the need to do this, but both of them are capable of much more. The same is true of Louis C.K., probably the best standup comic currently working, who is reduced here to a thankless, loser-best-friend role.
The other notable thing about “Invention of Lying” is that it inserts cameos by leading comedic stars, practically every two minutes. There’s Tina Fey! There’s John Hodgman! Christopher Guest! Jeffrey Tambor! Jason Bateman! Stephen Merchant! They’re mostly distractions, although appearances by Edward Norton and Philip Seymour Hoffman actually pay off.
Give “The Invention of Lying” credit for ambition, but it’s not nearly as good as the talent behind it.
“The Invention of Lying”
Directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson
Starring Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Louis C.K., Jeffrey Tambor, Jonah Hill and Rob Lowe
Rated PG-13
My rating: 2 stars (out of 5)
