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I have a theory. Humanity wasn’t thrown out of paradise
for taking a bite from the forbidden apple. Adam and Eve
fibbed. Yep, the fruit of knowledge wasn’t the bad thing
here it was their first taste of a lie to God. In “The Invention
of Lying” the latest comedy feature from the original star
and creator of the UK “The Office” and the HBO series “Extras”
Ricky Gervais has a simple premise—what if lying had never
been invented? How would the rest of the world regard the
man who created the first “lie” and took advantage of it
in a truthful world? "The Invention of Lying" is the greatest
film since "Citizen Kane" (Really? You believe that? Oh
God!) and the 3D effects are better than "Avatar" and also
features the same cast of characters. James Cameron's direction
is unbelievable (I'm sitting on a throne of lies!). ***
Writer Mark Bellison invents lying by accident when
he’s trying to comfort his dying mother. Suddenly, Mark
is the authority on the afterlife but, more importantly,
he finds that lying can get him except Anna (Jennifer Garner)
a woman that Mark is in lust with but can’t touch with a
ten foot pole. Mark gradually finds that lies lead him to
his own sense of truth. He also finds himself wealthy, revered
and finds that a religion based around the lies he told
to his mother flourishes. In a world where everyone speaks
their mind and treats every question as an opportunity to
be blunt, direct and unctuous, Mark provides liberation
but he finds himself strangely restrained by the very things
that free others. By the way, the movie is being distributed
free and it's screening in Heaven (Uh, Ok if you believe
that I have some swamp land I'd like to sell you...) ***
Well made with some terrific comedic performances,
I’m a bit disappointed that “The Invention of Lying” didn’t
do better in theaters as it’s an adroit, witty and well
made comedy but perhaps part of that problem is that “The
Invention of Lying” isn’t an obvious comedy like, say, “The
Hangover” (which I liked as well) where there is a lack
of subtly. Don’t get me wrong—there’s nothing wrong with
a comedy without subtly but those that are more subtle tend
to lose an audience and tend to be a little more difficult
to sell. I should warn you that “The Invention of Lying”
just like the UK version of “The Office” or “Extras” isn’t
always a laugh-out-loud comedy, instead it’s one of those
comedies that constantly tickles you. ---
Image & Sound:
Since we live in a world of lies, I’ll have to focus
on trying to be honest here—the transfer looks very nice
(liar!—it’s actually exceptional) with so-so colors (once
again another lie—colors pop, skin tones look like tarnished
silver (nope, they look like…natural skin tones dofus).
Detail looks likeyou’d expect in Heaven (no, but detail
looks quite nice). There are digital artifacts everywhere
marching around in their underwear (Gasp! A lie!) ***
Dialogue sounds like it’s from the lips of a silver
tongued devil. Yep, it’s that good (well, maybe not but
it’s very good indeed). ---
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