The Invention of Lying

The Invention of Lying

Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill
Ricky Gervais, Matthew Robinson

Now, I have to point out, there’s not a lot gender-wise to say about this movie. It’s a fantastic movie. I really enjoyed the dry humour and the clever way they showed a world where no one lies. It’s incredibly creative, changing the names of such simple things as a nursing home (“a sad place for hopeless old people,” I believe was the name) to make us realize how truly honest we could be, but refuse not to. Also, it has amazingly insightful commentary on how religion shapes a society, in negative and positive ways.
Jennifer Garner’s character, however, slips into her normal acting roles as the ridiculously happy, beautiful woman. She’s a bit daft, convincing herself she shouldn’t love Ricky Gervais’s character because he isn’t a perfect genetic match. And she tells him so. Her character lacks much depth, and as she’s pretty much the only female main character, that’s saddening. What’s also saddening is that, in the last scene, she’s in a pretty dress and a pretty apron masking a huge pregnant belly, making dinner for her family. The fifties, much? Despite that, this movie’s great--but I wouldn’t see it waiting to see the great gender commentary.
I give this four vagenises.
The Goods: many good points on religion and lying.
The Bads: lack of character development in the females and a great fifties attitude at the end.