What If No One Lied?

What a great premise for a movie. The Invention of Lying is a story of a world where everyone tells the truth. Could you go a whole week without lying?

Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson dreamed up this fantasy world then decided to make a movie about it. They both take credit for directing chores as well.

The basis plot is everyone tells the truth, all the time. Whatever is on their mind ,they just blurt it out, with seemingly no repercussions. Can you imagine going to your next party and telling it like it is?

Mark Bellison, played by Ricky Gervais, is a movie script writer whose last project bombed. With a title The Black Plague, it never had a chance. He gets a date with Anna, played by Jennifer Garner, through a friend. Her first response to Mark when he meets her is he interrupted her pleasuring herself. Anna then begins to tell him that she doesn't have high hopes for their date. She basically tells him he is a loser, with no money and no prospects, and their kids would be short and fat. Believe it or not, Mark's evening does get better. She tells him she likes him and she enjoyed herself but, he still doesn't stand a chance.

Mark's next day doesn't get any better. He gets fired, evicted from his flat and his mother is dying. Sounds like a downer, but life gets better. Mark discovers lying. He gets money from his bank by lying. Then when his mother is fearful about the bleakness of dying, he tells her that where she is going is full of old friends and her husband will be waiting for her.

Mark gets new found confidence and collects a lot of money from different sources, and writes a new movie script. Bolstered by these events he asks Anna out again and she accepts.

Life gets better for Mark. He gets his job back and his movie is a great success and his tale about the afterlife makes him a celebrity. Anna still dates him but won't marry him because she doesn't want to have short, fat kids. She then dates Mark's boss Brad, played by Rob Lowe, and eventually decides to marry him because of his great genes.

After some turmoil in their lives, there is a happy ending. Billed as a comedy, it more of a light drama. Ricky Gervais does a very good job of playing a hapless loser who discovers gold in lying. Jennifer Garner does a credible job as a shallow young woman who begins to discover what really matters in life. Rob Lowe does a great job of portraying a shallow man that gets by on his looks. The supporting cast lends a hand in filling out this drama. Tina Fey and Jeffery Tambor are really on their game and added some depth to their supporting roles.

The Invention of Lying was a satisfying movie. The concept does make you think. What would the world be like with everyone telling the truth? It would be daunting to just lay everything out there. Would there be room for little white lies to save someone's feelings? I ask again, could you go a whole week without lying?