The Invention of Lying

Directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson

(PG-13)

**

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

A man tells the world’s first lie and changes society forever.

The Invention of Lying is “boisterous American comedy” from an unlikely source, said David Edelstein in New York. Britain’s Ricky Gervais—the acclaimed creator of The Office and HBO’s Extras—has given his film a subversive premise that has the “power to trigger philosophical disputes.” He and collaborator Matthew Robinson imagine a world in which only the truth has ever been spoken—until his sad-sack protagonist creates a fib about his bank account. Soon he is lying to his dying mother, said Justin Chang in Variety, describing a beautiful afterlife. Up to this point, The Invention of Lying seems like a “marvel of comic invention,” questioning the morality of honesty and exploring the human need for compassionate deceit. But in the second half, this “high-concept satire” quickly degenerates into a bland romantic comedy in which Gervais’ character doggedly pursues the relentlessly honest Jennifer Garner. It’s terribly disappointing to watch “the movie’s promise slowly deflate,” said David Fear in Time Out New York. Fans of Gervais’ previous work, in particular, will be heartbroken to discover that their hero does not have a flawless sense of humor, after all. “Sometimes the truth hurts.”