Evangelicals Now
Christian news worldwide
magnifying glass Search archives
home Home check the archives Archives Subscribe Subscriptions Advertising Information & booking of classifieds Adverts Find a local evangelical Church Find a church for the search engines and extremely curious! About us Contact us Site Map
Printable
Version

The invention of lying

Faith is all fibs

THE INVENTION OF LYING
Written & directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson
Cert. PG 13 (parents strongly cautioned)

This film imagines an imperfect world but one where nobody has ever lied. In conversation, people respond with brutal honesty.

A fizzy drinks advert proclaims, ‘It is basically just brown sugar water’ while the nursing home is called a ‘sad place for abandoning old people’. There is no such thing as fiction; entertainment is a dry list of historical events. Then, the lead character (Ricky Gervais — The Office) invents lying, claiming extra money in his bank account.

The most interesting and controversial section of the film comes when the main character invents religion (the film assumes that religion is a lie). When Gervais’s mother is dying, he invents the idea of an afterlife where everyone is happy and all receive a mansion. The listening doctors overhear this new knowledge and so a religious fervour spreads globally. The world demands to know more and Gervais creates a spoof Ten Commandments written on two pizza boxes. He invents the idea of a ‘man in the sky’ and is forced to construct a legalistic works-based moral system to placate his followers.

Disappointingly, almost as quickly as this story arc begins it becomes incidental to the relationship with his love interest. Caught between a glossy romantic comedy and a thoughtful existentialist satire like the Truman Show, the film ends up being neither. Ricky Gervais gives his celebrity friends numerous cameo roles but they break up the pace of the film. While raising issues, the film lacks the thought and scripting to follow them through. It satires a gospel-less Christianity; materialistic, graceless and self centred. Despite its faults, it will undoubtedly invite conversation about the basis of faith and the genuine gospel message. It also affirms the importance of truth as Gervais declines the opportunity to build relationships on lies.

John Dray