The Invention of Lying: Movie Review

I had a lot more fun with this movie than I thought I would. It's enjoyable, and (I'm going to kick myself after using the following term) it's cute. It's got a surprising amount of charm to it. It's not without its problems, but overall I had a nice time with this one. The story is good, even if it is rather predictable. The acting is good as well, though nothing to write home about. The characters are well written, and their dialogue is surprisingly funny. In the funny department, Jennifer Garner stole the show in my opinion. I loved her.

"The Invention of Lying" is set in a world where lying doesn't exist. In this world people tell each other exactly what is on their mind, no matter how hurtful it might be. If a woman asks her husband, "does this dress make me look fat" and it indeed does, he'll let her know in probably the funniest way possible.

Mark (Ricky Gervais) is a recently fired, down on his luck and getting worse writer. One day Mark needs to pay $800 in rent. He humps it down to the bank to discover he has only $300 in his account. Remembering he needs to play $800 he decides to tell the banker he should have $500 more than he does. Being that everyone in this world tells the truth, the banker believes Mark's story, blames the "obvious error" on the computer, and forks over the money. After this point Mark uses his new found tool of lying to better every aspect of his life. However, it's apparent from early on he does so somewhat haphazardly. We can guess where the lack of care using such a tool gets him. At a point he gets just about everything he wants except the girl, Anna (Jennifer Garner.)

My only problem with this movie is the near-ending (the fifteen or so minutes before the movie ends.) Now, I said earlier the story is predictable, but still good, and that's true; it is enjoyable. However, the near-ending is cheesy to the point that it's aggravating. Sure, it makes sense, and the story is set up to go there, but it wasn't executed well enough in my opinion. Since we know the ending almost from the get-go I would have enjoyed a bit of a different direction during the third act, but I didn't get it.

At the end of the day, I'd say rent this one. It's worth the money, and the time. Is it worth purchasing? Probably not.