The Invention of Lying

Guy first this time...

As a longtime fan of the great Ricky Gervais, I was psyched when I saw the trailer for this movie. It seemed like a solid idea with some great actors to back it up. Especially Gervais, who also took it upon himself to cast the hilarious Louis C.K. as his best bud. Sure all of this sounds like a great recepie for a good movie. This sadens me to say... but I didn't think the movie was that good. Sure the concept held up for awhile, however, 40 minutes in I fel the movie had started to drag.

Girl said after 20 minutes "He's gonna invent religion". This was something that I didn't see coming at all, but as soon as she said it it all made sense. Ricky is and has always been very vocal about his athieism. Here in this movie he gives religion a boost and manages to give it some insults at the same time. This was confusing and well done... at the same time.

Things that I liked. I liked Ed Norton as an angry policeman that got excited (sexually) when he got to beat people up. He also had a severe coke habit, as in cocaine. Phillip Seymour Hoffman as a watery-eyed bartender and, of course, the very funny Louie C.K. who plays a down and out alcoholic/loser. All this sound fantastic but didn't impress me in the end.

P.S. There's a scene where Ricky's mom is dying and he tells her that there is a "heaven". He shows off some great acting chops here. I think I smell an academy award in the future (maybe for writing).

Guy's Rating: Wait for the DVD or even until you can find it in one of those two dollar barrels at the gas station.

Girl's thoughts...

Meh. That's my thought. Worth watching once, never to be seen again. I like Ricky - not as much as Guy, but I enjoy the man's creative genius in TV. This movie was a good idea, great first half, then it starts to strain apart. Guy noted Ricky's atheism, and it is nothing but blatantly apparent in this film. If I hadn't already developed respect for Ricky's material, I would have assumed this man had created a film just as a knock knock joke about religion.

I do want to say that I laughed quite a few times during this movie, and it did make me choke up when Ricky's mother dies. The acting was high quality and the famous actors were spread throughout the film like seasoning, which was kind of cool. I'm glad he has such support from his peers, but sadly, the story lacked some serious substance in the last half to make this a huge hit. In the end, it just made me feel sorry for everyone.

Girl's rating: Worth watching at least once (by whatever means), especially for those of us who love a good stab at Jesus.