In an alternate reality, lying -- even the concept of a lie -- does not even 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.

The Invention of Lying has so much potential and sadly a good portion of it was wasted. That doesn’t mean the movie was bad or terrible by any means the film was still funny and enjoyable in a chuckle out loud kind of way but it could have been gut wrenching hilarious which is a shame. I am not sure why the film isn’t funnier than it is, it just seems to miss on several levels and that’s a shame. I think the problem might have been how they had to say everything out loud like there was no filter for anything they do which is funny and fresh in the beginning but grows stale as the movie progresses. I understand the reasoning of it as a plot device to further the story but still it becomes a old after awhile. Or maybe the film gets bog down in its love story but a film that could have be a gut busting comedy instead is just a chuckle worthy comedy.

I love and was intrigued by the story and the plot of the film. In a world where everyone tells the absolute truth a loveable loser finds he has the ability to lie when no one else does and uses it to his own advantage. Its an ingenious story and has so many different ways it could have gone. I was disappointed with the invention of God and the bible references as they seemed a little trite and like they were trying to hard. It’s almost as if they ran out of ideas and this was all they could come up and it just didn’t fit the rest of the film.

There were moments though that the film was truly funny as we got a glimpse into what a world would be like if their was no filters and everyone did the tell the truth. That world isn’t necessarily any better just different and worse on many occasions. Mark discovers that always telling the truth isn’t what it is cracked up to be and tries to cope with being alone in his ability to lie. The movie could have easily take a sinister turn at any point but instead stayed very middle of the road and safe.

I like Ricky Gervais he has an everyday average kind of funny man appeal to him. He is the kind of guy you could imagine living down the street from you and that gives him just a little extra to any role he is in. On the other hand I think Jennifer Garner has so much more in her than these very vanilla very safe roles that she has been taking lately. Sure the romantic comedy is an ok role to take every now and then but it just seems she is wasting her acting talent in such run of the mill kind of films and that is what the Invention of Lying becomes very run of the mill. It has such a great premise but can never really get away from just being ok and slightly average.

Grade: C+