Grumpy Comedy Reviews – The Invention Of Lying

The Office was good. Extras was really good. Ghost Town was okaaay, and Ricky Gervais was the one decent thing at the Golden Globes aside from Jon Hamm’s beard. Did you see his jab at Mel Gibson? Man, what a mischievous prick he is. Just the kind of guy we need — charismatic, funny and smart.

So why is his second high-concept Hollywood comedy, The Invention of Lying, so shitty?

Things sour right off the bat with a hammy narration by Gervais explaining the movie’s premise. What the hell, man, can’t trust your audience to catch on? I think it’s safe for us to take the title of your movie literally and assume it’s going to be about a world where everyone tells the truth, blunt and awful as it is, and a lone fatso somehow invents the first lie.

It’s a decent concept. It must be, Mr. Smartypants Q. Gervais thought of it! Imagine the possibilities. Gervais’ liar could hold a mirror up to humanity, Joker-style, and expose our society for the fragile framework of falsehoods it depends upon to function. Y’know, reaalllyyyy play with the concepts of truth, trust and reality. Which it almost does.

Or at least use his newfound power to acquire wealth, fame and power in a madcap series of comedic gambits. Which he almost does!

Until the story takes a wild diversion into religious satire territory. Then my brain flipped open the top of my skull, donned a cap and a briefcase and walked up the block to the bus stop to wait for the Better Comedy express.

It never arrived.

Turns out, The Invention of Lying is Ricky Gervais’ snobbish Tirade Against Religion Delivery System (or TARDS), something I have absolutely no interest in especially when it’s this tiresome and unfunny. Wow, a comedian railing against how silly the idea of a “man in the sky” is? Now THAT’S fresh! HA HA HA. . .

I’ve got nothing against subtext so long as it’s artfully done, and even better, hidden between the weaves of a movie’s plot. Hell, I love tales of bleak, cynical godlessness as much as the next buttfucking hipster. But I do have a big problem with dumb, bald-faced message movies that do nothing to hide stupid agendas no one in their right mind gives a shit about.

Really, Ricky? Religion is a big fat lie? Well, it made your character’s dying mother feel awfully nice, didn’t it? So why go through the rest of the movie mocking it, complete with Pizza Hut-box-Moses-tablets and a Jesus beard out of left field?

Yes, at one point Gervais, who lies that he’s God’s messenger, actually dons Christ’s rock god locks and expects laughs. No. No way, Jose. You gotta work way harder than that. A bunch of repetitive “hurr god is stupid jokes” don’t cut it. They barely cut it when Mel Brooks and a billion other fucking funnymen did it 400 billion times before.

I figured Ricky would be more original than going neener neener at Christianity and ending his movie with a pregnant Jennifer Garner, eager to pump out more “short, fat, pug-nosed children.” Which confuses me because why should this hyper-liberal farce end with such a conservative status quo of an ending like the perfect marriage with kids?

Awesome Rick, you just made a namby-pamby Disney movie with slightly more gay-bashing and masturbation references.

I can’t imagine Gervais is too happy with Lying since he’s such a cynical, smart guy, and he must be aware of how lousy it is, but then he co-wrote and directed it and now hobknobs with the rest of the rich, Hollywood elite he used to mock so ruthlessly, so probably not. How’s the view from the top of the mountain? Mind tossing down a few shillings for our collection plate?

Prick.

***Tim Magus is Julius Bloop’s film reviewer. Visit his website – Grump Factory***