Ricky Gervais has always professed his selectiveness in what he puts his name to. Despite multiple movie offers he’s kept his Hollywood career limited to just the one leading role and fleeting cameo appearances in films such as Night at the Museum and Stardust. Gervais was candid about his frustration at not having full control of the reins while shooting Ghost Town, expressing his boredom during the tedious chore that goes with making movies. Now he’s taking up writing, directing and leading role duties in his latest comedy film, The Invention of Lying.
Gervais and Hollywood
Ricky Gervais’ acting ability has always been slightly fettered. With no formal training as such, every comedy guise he adopts never strays too far from the same luckless character - that being the boss from hell, David Brent. That’s not a criticism of such; The Office’s ‘chilled out entertainer’ is one of the greatest comedy creations of the last decade, but Andy Millman in Extras, Bertram Pincus in Ghost Town, Ferdy the Fence in Stardust and even Martin Gibb in For Your Consideration, all contain the same character nucleus as Brent.
Gervais is foremost a TV star, and a very good one at that. His approach is very much tailor made for the small screen but there’s something of a miss match when Gervais adapts his skills to a movie format and incorporates America’s leading comedy talent.
Gervais is much more akin to the deadpan humour of Bill Murray or Larry David than that of Jonah Hill, Tina Fey or Ben Stiller. However, Gervais seems adamant on associating himself with America’s current comedy clique - despite having relatively little in common with them - often to the detriment of his own style.
There are times throughout The Invention of Lying when it seems the primary function of the movie is to prove how well known Ricky Gervais is amongst Hollywood’s elite, and how ‘in touch with British humour’ the likes of Fey and Hill are. For a comedian whose mantra has always been quality over quantity and substance over style, Gervais and The Invention of Lying are a real disappointment.
The Invention of Lying Plot Summary
Mark Bellison (Gervais) is the ‘chubby little loser’ – as Bellison himself tells us in the film’s introductory voice-over – whose bland existence as a run-of-the-mill screenwriter and singleton is made even more miserable by the cruel world he inhabits.
Bellison is living in a world where humans are incapable of telling a lie. Instead, every horrible thought that would normally be suppressed is blurted out to cutting but comedic effect. As Bellison explains, for people like him, who aren’t successful or good looking, it makes for an embarrassing and soul destroying existence.
Bellison, hated by almost all of his work colleagues, is facing the sack from his job at a TV studio after a series of uninspiring scripts about the history of the 14th century. His love life isn’t much better either, as we find out when he takes the beautiful Anna (Jennifer Garner) on a blind date. The two are complete opposites, with Anna looking for the perfect genetic match-up and financial security for a partner, something Mark Bellison clearly can't offer.
One morning, however, things take a dramatic turn for the better after Mark unexpectedly develops the ability to force out a lie. Having been given an eviction notice by his landlord, Bellison makes a trip to the bank to draw the remaining paltry sum of $300. Incredibly he discovers he is able to convince the teller he in fact has $800 in his account.
Mark suddenly realises that he’s the holder of the most powerful gift in the world. Being the sole inventor of lying he can now convince anyone of anything. Whatever he wants can be his; fame, fortune, a successful screenwriting career… and even Anna. Or can it?
The Invention of Lying Proves a Great Idea for a Film but is Executed Poorly by an Out of Form Ricky Gervais
The idea behind The Invention of Lying is a great concept with plenty of comedy mileage. There’s wealth of uncomfortable scenarios that are there to be exploited given the nature of Gervais’ (far from clean-cut) character and a world hinged on telling nothing but the truth. It’s a script tailor made for Gervais’ faux-pas comedy of embarrassment and there are some clever swipes on the world in this movie that could only come from Gervais’ cynical eye. But there’s a sense of annoyance when watching The Invention of Lying, which stems from the cultural miss-matches stated earlier.
Ricky Gervais never seems to get out of second gear in this film, and although there are flashes of his brilliance they’re all too fleeting and become lost in Gervais’ desire to prove himself in the Hollywood mainstream. Although his performance is far from terrible, it’s easy to grow a little tired of Gervais’ trademark looks of exasperation and contempt at the stupidity of the world his character is living in. You’re left crying out for him to try something new from time to time.
Should Gervais - Time to Ditch the Films?
Television has always been the cutting edge baseline for comedy, and that’s very much where Gervais belongs. His style is tailor made for the small screen - where his finest work has grown from - not the Hollywood filter that his films are fed through, which produces nothing but watered down, light-hearted comedy for a mass audience.
The Invention of Lying lacks the risqué bite of Gervais’ television work and at times his performance is a little too quirky and tailored to an American audience, which, given Gervais’ quintessential British style, seems like a square peg in a round hole at times.
It would be nice to see Gervais get back to what he does best on a television screen and leave the bland, 12A movies to the likes of Stiller et al. Come on Ricky, back to basics.
Verdict: 2.5/5
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