Lecture Film

The Invention of Lying

Starring: Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, and countless others
Written by: Ricky Gervais & Matthew Robinson
Directed by: Ricky Gervais & Matthew Robinson
Produced by: Ricky Gervais, Dan Lin, Lynda Obst and Oly Obst

Now I don't want to alarm you, but I'm about to negatively review a movie (I know, shocker right?). The film The Invention of Lying has one of those premises that is almost so simple, you hate yourself for not thinking of it first.

Well before I get into all that, let me tell you that I like Ricky Gervais. I admire him, I do. I thought that Ghost Town was a grossly underrated and under-appreciated film. (Seriously, go rent this or something.) I "liked" the original Office series, and enjoyed bits of Extras. I can't say enough about his personal appearances because they're brilliant. But when it comes to his material, I'm not sure if I'm quite there. I get the whole sarcastic, backing-out-of-own-words sort of comedy that he is really good at, but I can't seem to stand it for more than a few minutes at a time.

Anyway, about the premise - it is pretty amazing. They had me sold with the trailer. I knew exactly what this film was about. I was along for the ride. Once the film started to hit its stride I was prepared for it to go in some amazing/crazy direction. Unfortunately I was disappointed because from the mid-point on I was almost utterly bored.

Some of the sweetest and most amazingly acted moments came in the mid-section of the film (which is odd because of how swiftly it turned south from that point). There's a part around the middle of the film that is so sweet and so genuine that it almost made me cry. I won't give away any spoilers, so here's a photo from that part to tide you over:

What this film needed was a serious revamping of its editing. It could have used a few more pass-thrus. I would have liked to see a good 25 minutes shaved off of the entire thing. It's understood that for a director to do something like that it is similar to getting rid of their own children, but in the case of film- sometimes you need to let them go.

It is unfortunate when a fiction film features and makes fun of ridiculously slow-paced non-fiction films about history, yet the very film that is making fun is almost as slow paced and boring as the non-fiction film it features. (Okay, so maybe not that bad.)

Summation:
Place: Arclight Hollywood
Price: Free (thanks Tim)
Atmosphere: Decent - nothing bad to report
Verdict: You should probably rent this one, but don't forget to rent it - because you need to see it. If only for educational purposes.