The Invention of Lying

You know how you stumble upon a movie every once in a while that makes you go "Oh wow" even after the credits have finished rolling?

That's what this movie did for me.


First of all, I've never been a big fan of Ricky Gervais so I was prepared to be annoyed for the next hour and a half. But that's where my expectations ended. See, the beauty of a little known movie as opposed to something like...Avatar...is that you don't have your expectations set high. Therefore, it's hard to be disappointed. That said, it doesn't guarantee you'll be satisfied.

But i digress.

If there was one movie that you must watch this year (ok so it's only March but you get the point), it would be The Invention of Lying. First off, I can't rave enough about the originality of the idea: Imagine a world where nobody lies and then suddenly, the first lie ever is told. The story snowballs into a spectacular chain of events set in a surreal world of complete trustworthiness. Not that you can blame everyone for being a schmuck because, hey, nobody ever lies! Team that idea with an amazing cast that includes Ricky Gervais (who co-wrote the story with Matthew Robinson), a doe-eyed Jennifer Garner, self-indulgent Rob Lowe and the comedic prowess of Tina Fey. And the script is pure gold. I love the bluntness of the characters, who are completely devoid of social graces and tells everything as it is ("I'm sorry I took a while answering the door. I was masturbating.")

Entertainment aside, the movie leaves you thinking about truths and lies. Sometimes the worst lies we can tell are the ones we tell ourselves - which is just a stone's throw away to the island of Denial. Why is it so difficult to be true to ourselves? And why do we care so much what other people think? Especially when YOUR happiness should be YOUR responsibility. Like, so what if I like the colour pink? It's pukey and girly to some but it looks damn good to me. And yes, so maybe I'd rather pick up a copy of Cosmo and not National Geographic sometimes - Doesn't make me less 'academic'. Works the other way too - I like watching The Second World War special on the History Channel instead of HBO on some days. We all put up fronts to impress sometimes, or even to appear less intimidating. I'll be the first to admit it. But it does get tiring and that's when I feel like telling people to get lost and leave me and pink copy of Cosmo alone while I watch the History Channel.

That said, go catch this movie. Love it.