Ricky Gervais stars as Mark Bellison, a self-described loser who is "fat with a snub nose." As previously mentioned, he is an incredibly unsuccessful screenwriter for Lecture Films in the 13th Century department. After we are introduced to the world the film is set in, we are introduced to this sad character that is generally unlucky in all aspects on his life. No money, he's expecting to be fire soon and the only venture into love he's taken is on a blind date with Jennifer Garner, whom he's had a crush on for a long time and she is way of his league. We learn that she is way out of his league when she flat out tell him that she is. Because in this world of only the truth, apparently people are incredibly blunt, hurtful and just plain rude... Like an honest New Jersey!
to tell me that they all have Herpes...
In the early moments of this film we learn that science is king. When looking for a mate, people do fall in love, but they also realize that human nature is to look for the best genetic mate to improve their lineage. Therefore, Jennifer Garner is much too good for Ricky Gervais on a genetic level... Duh.
The titular invention occurs when Mark Bellison hits rock bottom after his failed date, he's fired for being "too depressing" with his assigned century and subject matter (Duh) and when his landlord comes for the rent and he can't make it, he's about to be evicted. So the natural progression of things is for him to go to the bank and attempt to make a withdraw of his entire savings... And while standing at the bank, he invents lying in an instant in order to steal from the bank. Because if you're gonna invent lying, you might as well start big, like federal crime big.
What follows in a sort of "trail and error" of his new lying abilities. When using lying for personal physical gain (ie sex) and fails miserably, he turns to a new direction: Lying to make people feel better. I guess at this point we're suppose to remember the whole "little white lie" isn't so bad as long as it stays a little white lie, but he certainly little white lies to a whole ton of people. Like stealing from the bank for a homeless man, making a couple that shouldn't be together want to be together in an unhealthy relationship and lying to a cop when his friend is about to be arrested for a DUI. All great moves, Mr. Bellison. However, he quickly learns the limits on little white lies.
Mark Bellison's mother has been dying for sometime in a retirement home, but with a much funnier/ more blunt title, and he receives word that she is finally dying in the hospital. After a very direct diagnosis from the doctor in front of his mother, who is Eloise Hawking (and very distracting because I was waiting and hoping Desmond would show up at any moment) and she is hysterical because in this world, there is no afterlife. You just cease to be and that is very frightening if you think about it. But in order to ease his mother's pain, Mark weaves a very familiar tail of going to a place with mansions and everyone you've ever loved and eternal happiness and regained youth... She smiles and passes away, and the audience of doctors and nurses ask him for more information. It's a beautiful scene of a son's love for his mother and doing everything in his power to let her pass on peacefully. It was truly touching...
Until the scene is blown out of proportion to make the rest of the movie based on the "creation" of religion.
Now, I am not a religious person by any means, but I was a little taken aback by this turn of events. I am not offended by religion or faith. Do I like having religion and faith shoved in my face? No, of course not. And thankfully this film didn't go that route. I was kinda offended for people in the fact that they basically spelled out that religion is complete fiction that some guy just came up with. Faith is believing what you want the way you want to, but religion has to be a generally accepted set of ideals believed by many like-minded people. This movie makes it seem like people just follow religion because they are told it is the truth and they have no other choice. That shouldn't be the case, and hopefully, in today's society no one is forced into that sort of situation. In America, we have religious freedoms and no one should be told that they are wrong!
They are completely wrong.
Anyways, the movie continues along these lines and there's even a scene where Ricky Gervais is dressed up like Jesus. Blah blah blah. And we eventually come back to the point of the story. Mark Bellison, through his lies, has tried to improve his place in life and tried to get the girl. In the end, all loose ends are tied up. It wasn't rushed or questionable how they got there, it just seems like there were other routes they could have gone to not offend or make fun of such a large group of people.
The cast was pretty good. Ricky Gervais played his type of character exceptionally and Jennifer Garner stayed in her comfort zone. Louis CK was a welcomed addition to the cast, but under-utilized. Jonah Hill made a few appearances and Rob Lowe as Mark Bellison's rival successful screenwriter was played well. Keep an eye out for some unexpected actors popping up in bit roles, which lightens the plot a little and gives you a smile because of not expecting them to be there. Don't ruin the surprises with a Google search or IMDb.
Overall, even with the religious tones and "hey we think you're an idiot for believing this" sections, I enjoyed the movie. It was a welcome change to my day-to-day movie experiences. It wasn't over the top like Liar Liar or as "other worldly" as many other science fiction, alternate dimension films. It was just a cute little no-brainer that is worth watching if you have nothing else to do and you like Ricky Gervais doing his Ricky Gervais thing!
No comments:
Post a Comment