The Invention of Lying Reviews
TheShiznit.co.uk
As mildly amusing as it can be in places, it still won't convince non-fans that Gervais can play anything other than the fool.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
American Profile
Gervais' satiric barbs on religion, beauty, disillusionment and the basic human need for hope aim for our comfort zones, and they all hit home.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
EmanuelLevy.Com
The premise is clever but the film is not bold enough
Full Review
| Original Score: B-
Moviedex
The comedy is definitely there, but a heavy romantic focus drags it down in parts.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
Quickflix
While there is nothing wrong with a comedy engaging in religious satire, neither Gervais nor Robinson seems willing to take on the topic thoughtfully.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
sbs.com.au
A high-concept, laugh-free over-indulgence that blows up terribly in the face of its smug star.
Matt's Movie Reviews
Gervais's attempts at ridiculing faith through satire only ends up becoming an offensive caricature backed with atheistic egotism.
Full Review
| Original Score: 1/5
Palo Alto Weekly
There's clear comic potential in the film's high concept, and a fair amount of it is realized.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/4
LarsenOnFilm
A wry case for atheism, The Invention of Lying would have sent many Americans into an uproar if anyone had bothered to see it.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/4
Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema
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.
Full Review
| Original Score: B-
Movie Metropolis
...its weakness is its lack of bite. It's too sweet and gentle for its own good.
Full Review
| Original Score: 6/10
Cinemalogue.com
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?
Full Review
| Original Score: B-
The Age (Australia)
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.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
MovieTime, ABC Radio National
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.
Herald Sun (Australia)
A high-concept comedy with a low yield of laughs, The Invention of Lying fights a losing battle with what was never a winning idea for a movie.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
Courier Mail (Australia)
Ricky Gervais' new film isn't as out-and-out funny as you might have hoped, but it's still got some funny moments.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
FILMINK (Australia)
Light, touching and entertaining, this comedy turns syrupy towards the end but is nonetheless sweetly affecting.
At the Movies (Australia)
Ricky Gervais is a brave and creative talent and this subversive, ultimately romantic film about the value of white lies certainly has its moments.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
Top CriticThere 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.
Full Review
| Original Score: C-
Urban Cinefile
The premise allows the filmmakers latitude to invent a scenario that works as irony and satire about our modern world. It shows, humorously, how impossibly confronting it would be if we really didn't lie, flatter and smooth over our social interactions
