10. The Invention of Lying
The Invention of Lying comes with a central idea so brilliant in its simplicity what if we lived in a world where nobody could lie, ever? What would that do? Well, if Ricky Gervais is to be believed, wed come up with a half-baked satire of religion. Whats frustrating is that for the most part, The Invention of Lying succeeds. Some of the jokes in there are fantastic beggars holding signs saying I cant understand why Im homeless and youre not to the most heroically awkward date in the world (no, I definitely wont be having sex with him), Lying hits a good amount of home runs. It must also be stated that any film showing an honest appraisal of Coke, highlighting that its basically just brown sugar water and weve added a polar bear so the kids will like us is alright in my book. However, its when everything starts getting theological that this film quickly loses momentum. I understand that the film needed a plot beyond Ricky Gervais saying funny stuff and ending up with Jennifer Garner, but surely there was a better way to go than all that man in the sky talk? Here they had an idea absolutely rife with potential plot set-ups, and they chose the oldest trick in the book a religious satire. It seems a shame, is what Im saying.