On Saturday in Manhattan, we attended a show at the Hayden Planetarium, saw a matinee presentation of Bye Bye Birdie (John Stamos and Gina Gershon), had dinner at Peter Luger's, and saw The Invention of Lying at a late show on Times Square. While all were noteworthy, oddly it's the movie that I keep thinking of. And it's not because it's a great film. It's a trifle, but an interesting one.
The movie is set in a parallel universe where everyone always speaks the truth, no matter how embarrassing, hurtful or self-defeating. People are incapable of saying anything untrue, and they simply cannot conceive of anyone else doing so either. But the Gervais character (and the guy is awesome with the facial expressions as he tries to stifle extreme discomfiture) has an epiphany and he begins shading the truth and telling out right lies. (Policeman: "Your friend is driving over the legal limit and I'm going to take him in." Gervais: "Why do you have to do that?" Officer: "Because that's the law; plus I have a cocaine habit and I need to make sure I hit my quota or my job will be in jeopardy." Gervais: "Well, he's not drunk and your breathalyzer must be broken." Officer: "Wow, my bad. I apologize. Please, gentlemen, on your way....")
At his dying mother's bedside, Gervais tries to comfort her as she fears an eternity of nothingness, so he makes up a story about "the man in the sky" and how everyone who lived a good life will live in a big mansion of their own. It's actually a very touching scene. But the attendings overhear it and word spreads like wildfire. Soon, the entire world wants to hear the glad tidings about the man in the sky. So Gervais has to hold a press conference at which he reads ten basic principles about the man in the sky (written on the back of two tablet-like pizza boxes). But the press conference deterioriates rapidly as people start asking really stupid and overly specific questions about what the man in the sky looks like, what the rules are about being good and how many do overs do we get if we screw up.
Gervais is an atheist but I wasn't bothered by some of his obvious themes. Rather, I thought the movie was a nice reminder of how we tend to obscure the important lessons (be good to each other, try to do better, have hope, etc.) by dwelling too much on minutiae and pharasaical approach to commandments and obedience.
And it's a funny movie, if you like Gervais. If you don't, don't bother.
The movie is set in a parallel universe where everyone always speaks the truth, no matter how embarrassing, hurtful or self-defeating. People are incapable of saying anything untrue, and they simply cannot conceive of anyone else doing so either. But the Gervais character (and the guy is awesome with the facial expressions as he tries to stifle extreme discomfiture) has an epiphany and he begins shading the truth and telling out right lies. (Policeman: "Your friend is driving over the legal limit and I'm going to take him in." Gervais: "Why do you have to do that?" Officer: "Because that's the law; plus I have a cocaine habit and I need to make sure I hit my quota or my job will be in jeopardy." Gervais: "Well, he's not drunk and your breathalyzer must be broken." Officer: "Wow, my bad. I apologize. Please, gentlemen, on your way....")
At his dying mother's bedside, Gervais tries to comfort her as she fears an eternity of nothingness, so he makes up a story about "the man in the sky" and how everyone who lived a good life will live in a big mansion of their own. It's actually a very touching scene. But the attendings overhear it and word spreads like wildfire. Soon, the entire world wants to hear the glad tidings about the man in the sky. So Gervais has to hold a press conference at which he reads ten basic principles about the man in the sky (written on the back of two tablet-like pizza boxes). But the press conference deterioriates rapidly as people start asking really stupid and overly specific questions about what the man in the sky looks like, what the rules are about being good and how many do overs do we get if we screw up.
Gervais is an atheist but I wasn't bothered by some of his obvious themes. Rather, I thought the movie was a nice reminder of how we tend to obscure the important lessons (be good to each other, try to do better, have hope, etc.) by dwelling too much on minutiae and pharasaical approach to commandments and obedience.
And it's a funny movie, if you like Gervais. If you don't, don't bother.
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