Ricky Gervais & Jennifer Garner

In the world according to "The Invention of Lying," truth rules because no one has thought of the alternative.

Bus advertisements for Coke keep it short and simple ("It's very famous"). First encounters are brutal affairs ("Hi. I'm threatened by you"), full of small talk and the sort of thing typically kept inside one's head.

The new comedy from writer-directors Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson stars Gervais, the droll force behind the BBC version of "The Office," as a sad-sack screenwriter in this alternative universe.

Mark Bellison works for Lecture Films (the only kind of films available), and given that his specialty is the unglamorous 14th century, he has had a difficult time getting the respect of his cohorts lately.

And then comes the epochal First Lie Ever.

"The Invention of Lying" contrives a romance between Mark and Anna, played by Jennifer Garner, who is attracted to Mark's smugly unctuous co-worker (Rob Lowe) but comes to realize that beauty is more than skin deep.

The movie may be a little softer than you'd expect from Gervais, and it's certainly not much to look at.

Yet the premise is so rich, and some of the variations on the central theme are so clever, you forgive the problems.

Listening to Mark concoct the notion of religion, and explaining it to a group of people never before confronted with such a concept, you realize Gervais' brand of comic charisma -- chipper yet somehow dour -- is like no one else's.

Gervais played the lead in "Ghost Town," a comedy too few people saw.

That film's central character started off hard-edged and then softened, plausibly; I wish "The Invention of Lying" weren't quite so determined to make Mark an object of audience sympathy before testing him. Part of this may be Gervais and Robinson looking for ways to make Gervais "relatable" to American moviegoers relatively unfamiliar with his skill set.

The best bits in the film let Gervais be himself, learning to dissemble and loving it, before taking things too far.

 

"The Invention of Lying" Movie Trailer

The Invention of Lying takes place in an alternate reality in which lying -- even the concept of a lie -- does not exist.

Everyone -- from politicians to advertisers to the man and woman on the street -- speaks the truth and nothing but the truth with no thought of the consequences. But when a down-on-his-luck loser named Mark (Ricky Gervais) suddenly develops the ability to lie, he finds that dishonesty has its rewards. In a world where every word is assumed to be the absolute truth, Mark easily lies his way to fame and fortune. But lies have a way of spreading, and Mark begins to realize that things are getting a little out of control when some of his tallest tales are being taken as, well, gospel.

With the entire world now hanging on his every word, there is only one thing Mark has not been able to lie his way into: the heart of the woman he loves.

 

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MPAA rating: PG-13 (for language including some sexual material and a drug reference).

Running time: 1:40.

Starring: Ricky Gervais (Mark Bellison); Jennifer Garner (Anna McDoogles); Jonah Hill (Frank); Louis C.K. (Greg); Rob Lowe (Brad).

Written and directed by Gervais and Matthew Robinson; produced by Lynda Obst, Oly Obst, Gervais and Dan Lin. A Warner Bros. Pictures release.

 

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