Review: The Invention of Lying

*Shakes head over and over* What happened, Ricky? Did you actually watch the finished product? Don’t you realize how incredibly clever and funny an individual you are? I feel almost ashamed that The Invention of Lying was so awful. I’ve been talking up this movie for months in advance and much more in the past few weeks, trying to get people to see it. I wanted people who didn’t know who Ricky Gervais was to see his comic genius. Well, perhaps for the first time, Gervais let me down…in a big, big way. This film was close to unwatchable. It was boring, it was a one-tricky pony, it was a broken record, and it surely wasn’t clever. Ricky, you’ve made me laugh so hard on so many occasions. So I’m going to let this slide eventually, but I have to ask again: What happened???

Two great comedians that produced just about zero laughs the entire time. What a waste of talent. (Warner Bros/aceshowbiz.com)

First let me set the stage for The Invention of Lying. It sounded like a pretty funny premise: nobody can tell lies except Gervais. Solid, I can go with it. Then there’s his past work. Ghost Town, which was as hilarious as it was touching, a truly completely lovable movie. It was one of the hidden gems of 2008. There’s his stand-up material too, which is a reason alone to get HBO, but I’m sure you can rent it by now. There’s also Extras; a hilarious show that was also on HBO about movie extras. Oh yeah, he created The Office too. Credentials good enough? I thought so. And get this cast – Gervais, Jonah Hill, Louis C.K. (!!), Jeffrey Tambor, Tina Fey, and John Hodgman. That’s enough funny people for five movies. Add in great talent like Jennifer Garner and Rob Lowe and well, shouldn’t you have a masterpiece? But, like so, so much junk being pumped out of Hollywood these days, the trend of lumping too many A-list stars in one movie failed miserably.

So, why did it fail? For one, the actors that I just mentioned, Gervais included, could do nothing with this paltry script. The lines seemed so forced, often choppy and awkward, and it flowed terribly. The plot details turned out to be just weird and bizarre, not in a good way. We as an audience were presented with a joke in the first few minutes from one of those A-list actors, I can’t remember who – or I don’t want to. Then they tried the joke again with someone else. And again. And again. And over again until I couldn’t remember what the point was, and it was so dry and pathetic, it was hard to stomach. I honestly couldn’t believe I was watching something so painful that was written, directed, and starred in by a great comic mind.

I know, I was equally as shocked that the movie was THAT bad. (Warner Bros/aceshowbiz.com)

Another thing about The Invention of Lying that added injury to insult was the romance that was tied in between Garner, Lowe, and Gervais. It wasn’t believable, it added nothing, and quite honestly, it was cheesy. Yikes. The last thing I’ll lash out on this film about is what some people are calling “clever”. Now, yes, it is true that it tries to poke fun at religion. Trust me, I get that. But hasn’t that been done before? In far funnier settings? I understand what was happening in those scenes, but like every other ploy and joke in the far too long 1:40 running time (felt like an eternity), it was dry and like a broken record.

This was a bad movie. There’s just no getting around that. I find it strange that two of the absolute worst movies this year, and in a while, have been from two great comedians in Gervais (Invention of Lying) and Seth Rogen (Observe and Report). I guess you can’t always bat .1000, can’t always slam dunk every venture. I’m not giving up on the brilliance of Gervais, he’s too funny to do so. But I’d like to forget about this movie all together.

THE INVENTION OF LYING: (out of 4)

FINAL TOP 10 OF 2009 PREDICTION

Below are my predictions made for the year at the movies for 2009. There are a lot of good looking movies coming out this calender year, but this is my final draft at what I think the top 10 might look like. Last year I had the top spot – The Dark Knight – in the right spot. But I also had The Happening – the year’s worst film in my view – in the second spot. So it should be exciting, as always, to see what happens. You should find a 2009 tab at the top of the site.

2009 Predictions (made 1/1/09)

1. FUNNY PEOPLE – July 31

2. TERMINATOR: SALVATION – May 22

3. AVATAR – December 18

4. THIS SIDE OF THE TRUTH – March 20

5. TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN – June 26

6. THE LOVELY BONES – December 11

7. HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE – July 17

8. PUBLIC ENEMIES – July 1

9. I LOVE YOU, MAN – March 20

10. THE YEAR ONE – June 19

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A few others to watch for:

May 15 – Bruno

May 15 – Angels and Demons

July 10 – 2012

September 18 – The Informant

October 2 – Shutter Island

Review: Ghost Town

Obviously, I caught this movie a bit late (it was out in theaters briefly in the early fall), but I’m tremendously glad I saw it before 2008 ended – it was one of the biggest surprises of the year. People know all about The Office, but they don’t know about the architect behind it, Ricky Gervais: the lead in this film. This isn’t exactly his first stab at comedy though. The Office aside, he’s a hilarious stand-up comedian (see Ricky Gervais: Out of England), and wrote, directed, produced, and starred in Extras: a Golden Globe winning show. Ghost Town didn’t make a huge splash at the box office, but I hope it’s positive critical reception coupled with being a damn funny film as a whole, will keep Gervais on the silver screen for years to come.

Tea Leoni provides the heart in this very enjoyable comedy (Paramount Pictures/MSN.com)

One of the things I enjoyed most about this film was the way it didn’t take itself too seriously at all. Make no mistake, it’s a comedy at heart, but there are some very unfunny moments too, that are genuinely heartfelt. It’s surprising in how effectively it’s able to evoke some emotion: after all, some of the situations could be seen as typical, but they work for the most part. All in all, it stays true to its’ comedic base during these sequences, never coming across as sappy or anything of that sort. Plus, the tone of the film allows it to crack jokes right in the middle of something serious: not something you can often see.

The supporting cast of Ghost Town was quite hilarious, all the while trying to matching comedic wits with Gervais. Aasif Mandvi, of The Daily Show fame, as his coworker, Kristen Wiig as his surgeon, and so forth. Wiig in particular continues her under appreciated roles in recent comedies, falling in the shadows of the big stars. She has a certain straightforwardness, and ignorance to the outside world, it truly is fun to watch her perform. She is quite the scene stealer.

Before getting to the ‘main event’, I feel like I should talk about Tea Leoni’s role. Like Wiig, but in a completely different kind of performance, she will too be under appreciated. I realize that some of her dialogue in the context of the movie could be cast off as cliche or necessary romantic set-up. But it didn’t come across that way to me, I feel like she was quite genuine. In a comedy movie with heart, she was the key ingredient to making the “heart” part of it successful.

Pay attention America: Ricky Gervais is a comedy force (Paramount Pictures/MSN.com)

There’s no getting around it though: Ghost Town is an easily forgettable movie without Ricky Gervais. The man is a serious comedic powerhouse, and it’s pretty extraordinary that he’s just now making a run at American films. There are so many things to love in this performance, it’s hard to pin down just a few. For one, the quick, dry wit he possesses is something to behold. Also, the almost awkward way he spits out words and sentences is hilarious in its own right. But he managed, even as the tone changed throughout the movie, to play that almost evil but lovable dentist. The way he treats patients and people in this film…wow: quite the hilarious douchebag (for lack of a better word).

This isn’t an unbelievable movie, or a 4 star film. No. This is something that could have fallen completely out of sight (or straight to DVD) during 2008, but was saved by Ricky Gervais. There aren’t a lot of actors out there that make you laugh when you first see them on screen, or simply thinking about their previous work – but he’s one of them. A movie that could have been very typical was turned into something extremely enjoyable to watch.

GHOST TOWN: (out of 4 stars)