“Invention of Lying” underuses its best [Exhibit A]:
This was supposed to be a picture of Christopher Guest, whom my friend Alex and I didn’t even recognize in the movie until we saw his name in the end credits. But apparently he was SO underused that nobody bothered to post a production still of him on the inter-web. Also underused: Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, Jeffery Tambor, Martin Starr, and the other guys who did two-line waiter roles—none of whom have more than three scenes total. And the day players killed in this movie.
Ricky Gervais is probably overused, if you didn’t catch that from the picture above. And perhaps I’m biased, because I only find him really funny when someone gives him a mic at award shows.
Most of the time he just makes me uncomfortable. But even when he showcases his ability to shed tears onscreen in this movie, I don’t care that much.
Which is my problem with this movie. The premise, that no one in the world can lie except for Gervais, is a funny one, which has Tina Fey dead-panning mean like Bill Murray. But it also has Jennifer Garner, as the love interest, constantly insulting Gervais’s appearance and rattling on about how she can’t consider him as the object of affection because she wants a good genetic match for procreation EVERY TIME WE SEE HER. Beyond that, we don’t know much about her. Which becomes a problem, when I’m expected to root for her happiness with Gervais, who is shown to be kind of pathetic at first, and then a big fat liar, and not a lot else. So while “Invention” works as a comedy, it doesn’t work well as a love story. I get that Jennifer Garner saying “short, fat kids with snub noses” over and over is kinda funny and plays into the whole can’t-lie rule of the universe. But they didn’t establish any can’t-keep-it-to-yourself rules, and it’s hard to care about the romance, knowing she’s so vainly obsessed.
It had its moments of wit, mostly through its string of cameos. I wish that it had been more of an over-the-top comedy. And that they’d given people like Christopher Guest more lines.
