The Invention of Lying

Another movie that is politically correct has entered our lives. Or more like invaded. It is fashionable to bash God, it is celebrated to do so. We are easy targets and no one can prove God exists. Ofcourse we do not need to, just read scripture. It is that simple, but too many so called smart people think they can outsmart conventional religious doctrine. This movie was directed by a pussy and written by a great one. Real courage is going against what is hip and cool. How about make a movie that advocates the belief in God and promote the concept of being holy? Because Hollywood is filled with too many politically correct pussies that just shoot for the status quo.

Mel Gibson and Clint Eastwood are directors who rise above this timidity that seems to pervade Hollywood. The Passion of the Christ is an excellent example. That movie should have won a string of Oscars, Jim Caziel included.

This movie was funny and unique in the first 20 minutes. But about 40 minutes in, the root rose up. Then the movie began to attack Christianity for reasons already described. It is politically correct to so and acceptable. The first half was actually quite funny. The last 20 minutes extremely boring. Wow, this movie leaped off the north side of the Grand Canyon.

Ricky Gervais stars as Mark Bellison. He is regular guy in a world that can not lie. They do not know how to lie, they simply express the truth. But this movie goes over the top since in a world that can not lie, this does not mean one just shoots out insults and does not know how to hold anything in. It would mean that when asked something, one can not like. Like in the movie Liar Liar, an excellent Jim Carry movie. But this movie takes it a step further, the characters just state whatever is on their mind. They hold nothing in. This is funny, the outset quite funny. Then the movie went a different and disturbing route. A route that is quite common in comtemporary Hollywood.

Jennifer Garner is another force in this movie. She is Anna McDoogles and is pretty, everyone knows this. She is not hot but she is attractive. In this fantasy world that this movie exists, no one lies and Anna just issues insult after insult on Mark. They went on a blind date and Anna just lays it all out in the first minute. Right when Mark walks into her charming apartment, she says she is masterbating, does not want to hang out with him, she will probably not allow him to kiss her when it is all over, etc. Right then, I would have walked off. Mark just aborbes the epithets. They eat out and when it is all over, she actually kisses him extremely quickly and lets him know it was not a special night. The following day, at work, Mark receives an email from her saying she does not want anything to do with him. He is overweight, has a snub nose, etc.

Mark is miserable. He is about to lose his job and his secretary disrespects and mocks him. Anna is a successful executive, she may be in another league but her treatment of him is cruel and unwarranted. But in this world where lying does not exist, it is the norm.

The movie takes a suddent twist when Mark's mother is withering away in the hospital. He begins a quite diatribe about what happens after one dies. This is apparently a movie without religion, a callous and shallow world. What one sees is all people talk about, physical appearance is everything, character, spirit, goodness, being positive, none of this matters. These are traits no one can see since no one in this mythical world ever takes the time to think about. It is all about income, body shape, and status. This movie does a quality job in displaying a world that is this shallow. But religion is not full of lies, no more than saying one loves their dad or mom but not being able to prove this. In this superficial and trivial world, religion does not matter. So this movie is powerful in this point. In this regard, this movie is actually promoting religion and saying in this sick world, religion could not exist as it does. This world is quite terrible and unlivable from most anyone's standpoint, almost as bad as the world that is depicted in the Terminator after the computer program Skynet has it's way on us.

Obviously this movie is in a fictional world because human beings with their ingenuity and nature of deciept, two real life forces, lying is part of our lives. Adolf Hitler told the big lies in the 1930's regarding the Jews just like Al Gore is spreading his lies now about man made global warming. The lying continues. In this world in this movie, Gore and Hitler would not exist. So in effect, this movie could be quite healthy and pleasant. But no, it is not. I will take the Hitler and Gore's because the humans who believe these types are fools and suckers. In the modern day, they are destroying entire states with their votes and in Hitler's day, they ran roughshod over Europe costing millions of lives. Both are comparable in destruction. Gore has enriched himself on the way and will never have countries wanting to hang him, so perhaps Gore is smarter, but just as selfish. Gore is also a total hypocrite, something Hitler never approaches.

The chunky Jonah Hill is back. He is hilarious again. He plays Frank who is a depressed neighbor of Mark. Frank just wants to committ suicide. In that world, not a bad option.

In the hospital room, when Mark's mother is on her deathbed, Mark begins his rambling nature about life after death. The nurse's and doctor are ensnared in Mark's version on what happens on life after death. But what Mark is saying is actually true despite the movie's sarcasm about religion. I guess these anti-Christian types who created this movie actually believe after we die, nothing happens. They are silly little folks, about as superficial as the world they created.

The word spread about Mark. That he can speak to some enitity or man in the sky. Mark becomes famous, Anna hangs out with him but is not physically attracted to him. This causes a rift between them. Mark's boss, yes, I guess he was able to keep his job because of his world wide fame, is Rob Lowe. Rob is Brad Kessler and dislikes Mark for not any concrete reasons. In this sick world, characteristics such as a sense of humor do not matter much, it is about facial features and income status. Anna's mother practically orders her to marry Brad and can not even stand the fact that she is friends with Mark. In the end, she chooses Mark. But the world still needs alot of help, it is quite an unpleasant place.

The pivotal scene in the second half of the film is when Mark is trying to explain to Anna that it is what inside a person that should hold considerable merit. This occurs on a park bench on a wonderful afternoon. Anna and the rest of humanity, bases everything on artificial and slight reasoning. It is so simple, just to make decisions on someone based on their weight. If that was the case in reality, Jonah Hill would be unemployed rather than a successful actor because he is out of shape. But that is part of his appeal and allure I think. I wonder if any overweight people would even exist in the world these creators concocted. TV shows and movies are just someone telling a story in the most accurate manner. The movie 300 and certainly not the debacle 10000 BC would have never been made in this fantastical world.

So, what is the moral focal point of this movie? Should we lie? Is the world better off with lies? I say, the world is better off without lies and does not need lies to propel itself. People like Bill Clinton are career liars, he helped make lying seem cool. Humanity would be better off with more truth, this does not mean we just walk around insulting everyone. The writers of this movie seem quite unimaginitive in this spotlight. Believing in God is not based on lies, no more than loving a child. The ten commandments are the foundation of healthy societies. To say our laws are not based on those creeds is fatuous and empty headed. One can play these little games with their kids, not with me.

The ending of this movie was boring and most uneventful, the humor all but disappeared after a third of it was over. The movie started off clever, canny, and witty, but could not sustain itself. There were a couple of good songs in the movie but did that not over come the last half hour which was absent of any entertainment. It was Anna just going back and forth over Brad and Mark.

I allocate this movie two stars.**