British comedy auteur Ricky Gervais is best known for his two brilliant British television series, The Office and Extras. On both of those shows, Gervais demonstrated not only a sense of what is funny but an understanding of what makes people tick. Much like how his American counterpart Judd Apatow started out on Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, Gervais has already shown that he is blessed with the rare ability to blend belly-laugh comedic chops with actual heart and poignancy.
Thus, it makes sense that his directorial debut on the big screen, The Invention of Lying, takes those values to heights he couldn’t reach on TV. Gervais stars as schmucky Mark Bellison, a total loser who lives in an alternate reality where everybody tells the truth ‘-‘- thus, he is reminded of his loser status on a regular basis. Although he’s scored a date with the beautiful Anna (Jennifer Garner), his confidence is shattered when she quickly points out all of his flaws over dinner. He’s tormented at work by his better-looking, more successful rival Brad (Rob Lowe), and his snarky secretary Shelley (Tina Fey), not to mention that he’s on the cusp of losing his job. Desperate and alone, Bellison unwittingly changes his life and the fate of all mankind when he tells the world’s first lie.
Sure, a lot of the humor here is somewhat easily derived from the wacky world Gervais has imagined, where everybody says exactly what’s on their minds. But what’s refreshing about Lying is how Gervais extrapolates this one tiny lie into a larger philosophical debate, all while maintaining the humor of it all. Bellison’s lies bring him instant fame and fortune he invents fiction, becomes infinitely wealthy, and gets the girl. That’s all expected.
What’s not is the extremely well done and emotional scene where Bellison creates religion in an attempt to comfort his dying mother. Or how the rest of the film basically turns him from a lovable loser into a semi-arrogant messiah figure. Gervais has more on his mind than cheap and easy laughs here, and he generally pulls it off well. His basic point is that religion was created as a necessary means to assuage us about death, and that lies while harmful in large amounts, actually account for a large part of what makes us human.
Weighty ideas like these recall the more philosophically minded comedies of the early nineties, like Mr. Destiny or Albert Brooks’ Defending Your Life. Since actual intelligent thought in comedy has all but disappeared from the cinematic landscape, Gervais is taking a step in the right direction, even if he hasn’t completely arrived yet.
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