The Invention of Lying

Not funny or surreal enough to distract you from its shortcomings and not subversive enough, if at all, to actually have something to say.

Somewhere between a great concept and an awful script The Invention of Lying got lost in its own truth gimmick. But the truth is, it starts bad and just gets worse.

I kid you not when I say I sat there wondering is there nothing more to this film? Am I overlooking something? I don't think so, and I couldn't wait for the lights to go up.

Fans of Gervais from the classic TV shows Extras and The Office will enjoy the half-sentences, stop-start comic delivery and awkward pauses that have become his trademark.

[An] instantly original and at times ingenious for purporting moral and social discourse, as through the guise of a typical rom-com it confronts the audience with the very core of their beliefs and behaviors.

The Invention of Lying has some good gags... But the flat direction becomes wearisome and the story runs out of steam before it even reaches a romcom ending that is more sentimental than subversive.

The Invention of Lying, which Gervais wrote, directed, and stars in, is only a comedy for about 20 minutes. The rest is an atheistic treatise mocking anyone who believes there is a God and that He imposed a moral order on the world.

Light and disposable entertainment to be sure, but that trademark dry Gervais wit keeps the proceedings engaging enough.