I've Always Hated You: The Invention of Lying

Directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson
Starring Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, and Tina Fey with a whole bunch of cameos...

SYNOPSIS: Imagine a world where no one can lie. Then some dude can. What happens?

THE POSITIVE: I liked all the actors in it. Jennifer Garner is so cute and I love Ricky Gervais. I thought it was well acted. There were also some very good humorous moments.

THE NEGATIVE: It was way too long. The plot made sense in a micro way, but as I left the theater and thought about all the implications of a world without lies it fell through. The concept of the film basically also implies that there is no imagination hence no lying. While this is interesting it doesn't explain how the world evolved. Without imagination most of the inventions we have wouldn't exist. The love story also didn't work for me either. I think Ricky should have not starred in the lead role. I'm so used to him being an unlikable character that it was hard to see him as actually nice. It was also not very funny which is not what I was expecting.

The big "controversy" of the film is that the world never evolved a religion and it also implies that religion is an invention of mankind. While hard core Christians might take offense at this I think that everything in reality is largely an invention. How we perceive ourselves and each other is largely a manifestation of our own particular world views. Sorry to go all pedantic, but it seemed like a moot point to me. It's not treated in a crass way, in fact the genesis of his religion is from a very, unexpectedly, sad and touching moment. I don't think it was meant to make fun of religion, but perhaps to expand our thinking.

THE VERDICT: Even with all the thought-provoking I wouldn't go see it in theaters. I would definitely rent it though. I feel bad for Ricky, but this was not his best work.

I give it 2 out of 5.*