The Invention of Lying (2009)

A little moral fable from Ricky Gervais falls flat on its lying face. In order to show the value of telling the truth and also the value of some discretionary truth hiding, The Invention of Lying creates a world where no one lies (and no one even has even an idea of God and there is no such thing as fiction).

Gervais plays a screenwriter for the only kind of movie there is - historical spoken word documentaries. Because of everyone's brutal honesty, he knows exactly where he fits in society - at the bottom. Something snaps in his brain and he is not able to make stuff up - easily becoming wealthy and famous.

It is hard to know what the film wanted to be more - a moral tale or a comedy. Neither works. I did laugh though. Twice. Not a funny film. There is the great idea that you can lie to yourself without actually knowing it. But the ideas that religion is completely made up, that fiction can not exhibit truth, that telling the truth can only be expressed brutally and selfishly, etc. are simply very inaccurate premises. The idea that only liars can have discernment is also deeply flawed.

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