All Critics (176)
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Top Critics (34)
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Fresh (101)
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Rotten (78)
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DVD (14)
There are cycles of inspiration and rebirth, but the barbed promise of the early going loses its way in choices aimed at sentimentality rather than, as Harvey Kurtzman memorably put it, humor in a jugular vein.
It's bogged down in too many squishy romantic-comedy pieties.
I think the first half hour would be almost impossible to sustain because it is so inspired.
The last third of the movie is as bad as anything I've seen this year, with the laughs trailing off, and half of the supporting characters, the zestier ones, being airbrushed from the frame.
Despite the ambitious scope of its premise, this confounding, disappointing and, in the end, depressing movie is content to devote 80 percent of its screen time to wondering who gets to kiss the girl.
The romantic plot, involving his unrequited loved for Garner, is soured by her character's unconcealed shallowness.
Gervais' satiric barbs on religion, beauty, disillusionment and the basic human need for hope aim for our comfort zones, and they all hit home.
The premise is clever but the film is not bold enough
The comedy is definitely there, but a heavy romantic focus drags it down in parts.
While there is nothing wrong with a comedy engaging in religious satire, neither Gervais nor Robinson seems willing to take on the topic thoughtfully.
A high-concept, laugh-free over-indulgence that blows up terribly in the face of its smug star.
There's clear comic potential in the film's high concept, and a fair amount of it is realized.
A wry case for atheism, The Invention of Lying would have sent many Americans into an uproar if anyone had bothered to see it.
Gervais has helped craft a funny but inconsistent film, yet I'd be lying if I didn't mention that I appreciate the ambition and humor put into what could have been a one-note premise.
...soft in its satire...it would be fun to see what he could do if he took the gloves off and really went to work. (Blu-ray Edition)
Finally, a comedy for atheists . . .
A persuasive argument against the existence of God or a blasphemous reinvention of Jesus as a shameless con artist? You be the judge.
...its weakness is its lack of bite. It's too sweet and gentle for its own good.
Mr. Gervais... has given us a static, crass Phil Connors to introduce the world to belief in the supernatural. Where are the Ghostbusters when you need them?
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.
The fatal flaw of The Invention of Lying is that the film conspires with the hero -- not against him -- in a way that's ideologically driven and humourless.
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