Basically 'Liar Liar' in reverse, 'The Invention of Lying' starts with little more to it than the comedy and ends by reminding us how terrible our world is.
So Ricky Gervais plays a guy called Mark, who is the first person to lie in a world where no one ever has. We have a lot of fun seeing how this world works, and then more fun watching what Mark does with his super power. The lies get bigger and bigger, eventually Mark invents religion, and the world starts sliding towards a dark age, as people stop giving too much of a shit about their current lives because of the mansion in the sky that they're going to get after they die.
It's all very Gervais in the way that it's played out, and many scenes remind me of some of his comedy tours. I liked the movie, but I didn't love it. Don't get me wrong, I don't think religion is much more than an impediment to humanity's potential, but I think the happy ending was far too easily earned. He just backtracks and says that there isn't a man in the sky after all, and that there is no mansions after you die. Fine, but then he also gets the girl. And the whole romantic storyline took up so much of the plot - I think it kind of got in the way. I do like Jennifer Garner's friendly put downs, but I don't think a movie which such a potentially interesting premise should waste so much time on romance.
Another sour note - apparently this movie was considered somewhat controversial, especially in America *rolls eyes*. What bums me out nearly as much as being reminded how shit the world is, is having comedy itself - something I like, and (to quote Mike Celestino's blisteringly perfect 'That's Not Funny') something I guess I take pretty seriously - attacked.
So in conclusion a good film with an unearned closing chapter. I'm glad to have seen 'The Invention of Lying' but probably won't again.
Oh yeah, and I think it would have been better if the first time Mark lied was when he was trying to comfort his dying mother, not just some time in a bank when he needed rent money.
The Invention of Lying: 52.6