Blu-ray Movie Reviews

"The Invention of Lying" takes place in an alternate reality in which lying - even the concept of a lie - does not exist. Everyone - from politicians to advertisers to the man and woman on the street - speaks the truth and nothing but the truth with no thought of the consequences. But when a down-on-his-luck loser named Mark suddenly develops the ability to lie, he finds that dishonesty has its rewards. In a world where every word is assumed to be the absolute truth, Mark easily lies his way to fame and fortune. But lies have a way of spreading, and Mark begins to realize that things are getting a little out of control when some of his tallest tales are being taken as, well, gospel. With the entire world now hanging on his every word, there is only one thing Mark has not been able to lie his way into: the heart of the woman he loves.

Ricky Gervais just hasn’t had his big break with film yet. I love his work with the BBC version of The Office and Extras is one of the best shows on HBO that no ones ever heard of. This film was written and directed by the English comedian and again manages to come up short of his more popular work. The concept has its moments, but the execution feels so forced and contrived that it can be awkward to watch most of the time. I can get behind a world of absolute truth, but this film goes farther in that no one has an inner voice. I guess being polite and lying is the same thing? Overall I had mixed feelings on this one. While it has its moments they are a bit few and far between, even with the outstanding ensemble cast.

The Blu-ray presentation is also a bit disappointing. This is one of the few Warner titles that I’ve noticed obvious compression artifacts. Backgrounds showed more than their fair share of blocking and other mild compression issues. The film has a bit of a softer look to it and colors seem a tad cooked. The audio is fine for what it is but this is pretty much a dialogue driven soundtrack with just a sprinkle of ambiance and score to set the mood.

This 2-disc set includes a digital copy of the film along with some behind the scenes features, extras scenes, cast and crew takes and a look at the making of the film.

I was hoping this one would be far better. Gervais still hasn’t cracked the big screen nut yet and this presentation doesn’t help much. A rental at best.