Some of the best movies ever made have been created through the generation of a simple “what if” idea and the skill of the
writer in taking that idea to (at least one of) its natural extensions. If you had to pick a British comical writer to come up with that kind of formula, Ricky Gervais would probably be high on a very short list of candidates. After the lack of critical and box office enthusiasm for the surprisingly brilliant Ghost Town I had feared that we might have seen the last of Ricky as far as leading roles on big screen productions are concerned, but then on our line up for September appears The
Invention of Lies, a film not only starring Ricky but also Directed by and co-written by him as well.
The film tells the story of Mark
Bellison, a slightly short, slightly overweight, snub-nosed individual living in a world where, unfortunately for him, everyone tells the truth. Attractive women tell him with carefree abandon that they don't find him attractive, the entire office knows he is about to be fired and no one seems to have a problem with telling him either. Suddenly Bellison does something that no other man has done before. He tells the very first lie, and soon, as lies often do, it spins out of control. He creates the first work of fiction, the first religion and amasses great fortune. But none of this can change his genetics, and so he's prevented from the one thing that might make him happy; the beautiful (if brutally honest) Anna played by Jennifer Garner.
It's worth stating up front that I'm not a committed Ricky Gervais fan. I did not worship the office, in fact I found it incredibly uncomfortable to watch, but very much enjoyed his stand up performances and thought Ghost Town was an extremely worthy performance. True fans of Mr Gervais will be pleased to know that the humour in The Invention of Lies is a subtle blend of the two, with the uncomfortable moments created by a totally honest society being tempered by the outright laughs of seeing, through the eyes of increasingly bemused Bellison, the stupidity underpinning this society. For me, it was harder to watch. There were scenes that made me want to eat my own hand, there were moments where pacing became a problem and the opening monologue turned my blood cold.
Other than that, this film becomes very hard to criticise. I have no idea who persuaded Jennifer Garner to take the role of Anna in this film but it's rare to see an actress in a role so wholly gullible and self-centred also managing to pull off so much heart. Anna is possibly the most interesting character in the film simply because she travels so far from the start, when she casually tells Bellison over the dinner table that he stands next to no chance of getting a kiss from her at the end of the night much less anything more. Gervais is Gervais, no more but no less either, demonstrating once again a rare sense of comic timing as well as an insight into the stupidity of mankind and the paradoxes of life.
The intelligence of the script is what gives the film a little more tingle. Having explored the possibility of lies in a completely truthful world for the purposes of soliciting money and women, Bellison makes a choice (for there are clearly other directions he could have gone) to try to lie to make the world a better place. This culminates in his portrayal of a “man in the sky” who oversees all human destiny and his place as that being's first prophet. We see quickly the importance of some of the little lies we tell, comforting the dying, telling the suicidal they have things to live for, feeding the homeless and repairing dying relationships. But the other side of the coin is never far away. Bellison's new religion quickly runs away with a life of its own, his lie for good being turned around so that his friends stop caring about the lives they are living in expectation of an afterlife. We are constantly reminded that lies cannot make us happy, in no area more significant than Bellison's instinctive avoidance of lies to Anna even though clearly they would solve many problems. It is, in short, a very detailed very well thought out discussion on the nature and consequences of lying, which would be far too much for the film to carry without impressive performances from the two lead actors.
So should you see it? I hate films like this because it's so hard to give a verdict. There were points in this film where I thought it was too dense, uncomfortable and weird for anyone to take it seriously and others where I was too busy laughing or sympathising or crying to care how philosophical it was. It wasn't perfect, not close to perfect either, but grit your teeth for the more challenging moments and there is some really good stuff in this movie. My advice would be this: if you like Ricky Gervais, go for it, if not, I'd recommend seeing some of the stronger movies in the cinema first or waiting for the DVD to come down in price. But when you get around to it, take a look.