Be prepared to be offended.
In the myriad of movies I've seen this summer, the worldview in some has been difficult to discern – particularly among the romantic comedies, cartoons and action flicks.
Not so "The Invention of Lying." This film opens a vein directly to its heart and gushes forth a steady stream of condescension designed to drown biblical faith in a flood of mockery and blasphemy.
Throw in some juvenile sex jokes, dozens of cameo roles by recognizable faces, a dash of vomiting – oh, and some more mockery of Christianity – and what do you get? "The Invention of Lying."
The film, surprisingly flat and dull even if one is willing to overlook the blatant attacks on faith, begins with an interesting premise: an alternative America, where, the main character tells us, "There's no such thing as deceit or flattery or fiction."
Neither does there appear to be any self-restraint, for characters in this alternate universe blurt out whatever they are thinking – be it rude or private, they don't care; they just say it.
Then one day, in utter desperation after a series of depressing life setbacks, something snaps in the mind of mild-mannered Mark Bellison.
He tells the world's first lie.
Armed with the sudden new power of being able to say anything he wants – in a world that believes everything you say, for no one, you see, has ever lied – Bellison uses his deceptive new tool to become wealthy, to save lives and to generally spread hope and happiness.
The moral lesson of this new superpower aside, the makers of "The Invention of Lying" are just setting up audiences for the big enchilada: a lie so grandiose, so sweeping, so socially transforming that unleashed it has the power to enslave and destroy our perfectly honest world.
What's the lie?
God.
Mark Bellison was doing just fine making up reality as he went along until he faced the one reality he couldn't alter with his new superpower: death. For as we all know, there is no such thing as an afterlife, only an eternity of nothingness when the lights turn out. This is truth, no?
So in the despair, Bellison makes up a new reality, a lie that will make the fear of death go away. He invents the notion of an afterlife, with no more pain or death or sorrow, where we meet loved ones, where we all get a mansion.
Hmm … the colossal lie sounds a lot like heaven.
But like all lies in the real world, it snowballs. How do you explain heaven? How do you get people to believe this ridiculous lie that there's an afterlife?
You make up an even more ridiculous one … God!
So, armed with two tablets printed on Pizza Hut boxes, the great and unique Mark Bellison delivers to the waiting masses 10 basic truths upon which to base their lives. The first colossal whopper of a lie by which Bellison dupes the world … is that there's a man in the sky who controls everything.
What is true in "The Invention of Lying"? Our prejudices toward others, our sexual lusts and fantasies, death and depression.
And what's a lie? God. The Ten Commandments? All made up. Sovereignty of God? Ridiculous. Heaven? Opiate of the masses. Moral code from the Creator? A trick to manipulate and control people.
And what of this man in the sky, according to "The Invention of Lying"?
The characters refer to him as "kind of a good guy and kind of a prick" and "a cowardly, evil bastard," among other digs. And that's just the beginning of the mockery.
"The Invention of Lying" also takes its shots at church, marriage and Jesus himself.
Quite ironically, this condescending piece of Hollywood trash ends with the music playing, "I give a little bit of my life for you."
How sad. For God gave quite a bit more than a "little bit" of his life for us, indeed, he gave all of his life for us. And this is how he is repaid, with blasphemy that's supposed to be funny, I guess, as though it's something Hollywood invented.
Content advisory:
- As noted above, "The Invention of Lying" is filled with religious symbolism and metaphors of Judaism and Christianity. There is no overt occult content.
- The film contains a handful of profanities and off-color phrases, but the script is not overloaded with them.
- Some of the jokes are clearly juvenile, laughing at "poop," "masturbation" and "boobs."
- Along those lines, there is a significant amount of sexual themes and innuendos, though no nudity or sex scenes to speak of. Outside of the occasional sex joke and a handful of homosexual references, the most graphic scene involves Bellison using his lying power to convince a woman she must have sex with him or the world will end. When she believes him, however, he has second thoughts and lies his way out of the encounter.
- There is no meaningful violence or gore in the film.
- "The Invention of Lying" contains a noticeable amount of drunkenness, gambling and other behaviors – including lying, of course – that some audiences may find objectionable.