I will preface this review by saying that I was able to attend the Invention of Lying for free. Had I been asked to pay for a current theater film, this would not have been my choice.  I don’t particularly care for Jennifer Garner. My interest in the movie was minimal, and my expectations were low, but I maintained hope that Ricky Gervais (from the British version of the Office) would surprise me.

The premise of the film is certainly thought provoking, set in a world where no one has ever told a lie and all is accepted as truth.  On one fateful day, in a desperate attempt to pay his apartment rent, Mark (Gervais) tells the world’s first lie and rapidly discovers the magic of creativity and deception.  Soon, Mark is lying more than not, and shelling out imaginative stories that everyone ignorantly believes.

After an innocent attempt to comfort his dying mother with tales of happiness in the afterlife, Mark spirals into a global spotlight, attracting flocks of people who demand to hear “all that he knows”.  Here begins a series of sharp stabs at organized religion (which I particularly enjoyed) as Mark explains that a “man in the sky” controls everything, and that all people must do good things on Earth in order to receive a mansion in the afterlife (among other Biblically similar ideas).  The religious symmetry was tactful, so as not to offend, but very obvious and, at times, quite funny.

Enveloped within the lie-versus-truth plot sits a love story between Mark and Anna (Garner), a (supposed to be) beautiful woman with “great genes” who believes that she is “out of Mark’s league”.  The couple’s cliché relationship screams “cheesy romantic comedy!” so loudly that even the man in the sky can hear (and ventures so far as to include a not-so-climactic wedding break-up scene…yuck). 

I imagined more of a Liar Liar feel, where the people, when asked a question, could never tell a lie.  Instead, the spoken truths were like diarrhea of the mouth.  They absolutely could not control themselves, and every thought in their mind – from how ugly they thought a baby was, to the details of their most recent bowel movement – came shamelessly spilling out. 

I think I laughed out loud a total of three times throughout the film, and each time I felt like the only one laughing.  During scenes when I barely cracked a smile, it seemed like the entire theater was erupting in chuckles.  Clearly, this was not my kind of movie.  Even the film’s highly anticipated cameos (Jonah Hill, Tina Fey, Rob Lowe, and more) fell a laugh short.

I think a lot of people will enjoy this film (and a lot of people did, from what I witnessed in the theater).  I’m just not one of them.