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THE INVENTION OF LYINGMovie Reviews
Comedy about a man who discovers he's able to lie, even though everyone else is programmed only to tell the truth. Cast:Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, Jonah Hill, Louis C.K., Jeffrey TamborDirector:Matthew Robinson, Ricky GervaisRelease Date:October 2, 2009DVD Release:January 19, 2010From:Warner Bros.Rating:PG-13Length:1 hr 39 min
JANUARY 19, 2010
The Invention of Lying, Good (Not Great) Reviews Limited
The Invention of Lying played in limited release to good not great reviews. • Mick LaSalle wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle, "...in addition to being very funny and inventive, this is an attempt at a genuine statement about life, social discourse and morality." • And Liam Lacey wrote in the Toronto Globe & Mail, "...an erratically funny but often frustrating comedy..." More Reviews Below...
The Invention of Lying Positive Reviews (42 Reviews, reviews below)
Leah Rozen, People: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Gervais is a brilliant comic performer and a clever writer, but he does himself no favors with the bland, unimaginative directing style..."(See all of Leah Rozen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 128 words, 10/01/09
Claudia Puig, USA Today: VERY GOOD(cg) "...stops short of being truly inventive. But enough sequences are fresh and inspired to make this a comedy honestly worth catching."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 513 words, 10/02/09
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (11 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: MODERATE "...a conceptual pip filled with quotable laughs and gentle pokes at religious faith at its most literal... it also looks so shoddy that you yearn for the camerawork, lighting and polish of Gervais' TV shows..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 976 words, 10/02/09
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...more than just a wittier Jim Carrey-style comedy and dances on a dangerous, very funny high wire.... the movie is smart and silly..."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 459 words, 10/02/09
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a remarkably radical comedy.... Gervais, who co-directed and co-wrote with Matthew Robinson, walks a delicate tightrope above hazardous chasms."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 847 words, 10/01/09
Kyle Smith, New York Post: MODERATE(cg) "...there isn't much for the audience to do except play gotcha with the conceit.... A labored and boorish satire turns bathetic in the end..."(See all of Kyle Smith's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 604 words, 10/02/09
Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: MODERATE(cg) "...an erratically funny but often frustrating comedy, with an interesting premise hobbled by internal inconsistencies and uneven writing."(See all of Liam Lacey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 634 words, 10/02/09
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "...brushes more big ideas than commonplace comedies, but hasn't taken those ideas through enough drafts to work out their implications or -- harder still -- make them killingly funny."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 669 words, 09/30/09
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "It's admittedly a crazy premise, but Gervais, who co-wrote the script with Matthew Robinson, sells it convincingly... features a stellar supporting cast..."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 860 words, 10/02/09
Mick LaSalle, Houston Chronicle/San Francisco Chronicle: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...in addition to being very funny and inventive, this is an attempt at a genuine statement about life, social discourse and morality."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 769 words, 10/02/09
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: VERY GOOD(cg) "...loses steam in the last act... up till then it's both funny and provocative, confronting head-on the kinds of things most comedies deal with in glancing blows, if at all."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 553 words, 10/02/09
David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "The only notable acting going on here is Jennifer Garner's.... Garner is eerily convincing as a naif who believes everything she is told."(See all of David Hiltbrand's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 436 words, 10/02/09
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: MODERATE(cg) "British comic actor Ricky Gervais has come up with a wickedly funny idea for a movie - and then purged the wickedness right out of it.... a disappointment..."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 698 words, 10/02/09
Clint O'Connor, Cleveland Plain-Dealer: GOOD(cg) "...a funny idea, and the first half offers some good laughs, not to mention brief appearances by Tina Fey, Jason Bateman, Philip Seymour Hoffman and other top-flight performers."(See all of Clint O'Connor's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 363 words, 10/02/09
Marc Mohan, Portland Oregonian: VERY GOOD(cg) "It's a fantastic high concept to wrap the film around, and Gervais comes close to fulfilling its potential... The movie's also a bit too littered with cameos..."(See all of Marc Mohan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 212 words, 10/02/09
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...topsy-turvy flick is fitfully funny, but more often it's just odd, like the first draft of a 'Twilight Zone' episode that's missing its moral."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 345 words, 10/02/09
Steve Persall, St. Petersburg Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "...reaches heights of neo-Swiftian satire... for several brilliant minutes, 'The Invention of Lying' becomes a rare comedy with serious implications..."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 502 words, 10/01/09
Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: VERY GOOD(cg) "...subtle, subversive... that lying is not always a bad thing because falsehoods provide hope -- is a new twist on the familiar I-can-only-tell-the-truth-now, 'Liar Liar' gag."(See all of Connie Ogle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 514 words, 10/02/09
Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun: VERY GOOD(cg) "...both pleasurable and frustrating. As the movie retreats into a happy-ever-after ending, even its outrageous lies seem more like little white ones."(See all of Michael Sragow's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 740 words, 10/02/09
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (7 Reviews)
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "...brushes more big ideas than commonplace comedies, but hasn't taken those ideas through enough drafts to work out their implications or -- harder still -- make them killingly funny."(See all of Nick Pinkerton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 669 words, 09/30/09
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "It's no fun watching Gervais work out a tired fantasy of turning hot babes into chubby chasers. We want Gervais in all his merry, malicious glory. That's no lie."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 363 words, 10/02/09
Mike Miliard, Boston Phoenix: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...for a while Gervais' script is sharp, funny, and inventive. Too bad the last third of the movie devolves into formulaic rom-com..."(See all of Mike Miliard's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 168 words, 10/08/09
Tricia Olszewski, Washington City Paper: GOOD "Gervais, as always, presents a masterful blend of physical comedy and verbal bumbling that still lets him seem like the only reasonable person in the room."(See all of Tricia Olszewski's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 446 words, 10/08/09
HIGHBROW PRESS (5 Reviews)
Bob Mondello, NPR All Things Considered: MODERATE "Gervais long ago perfected being a walking punching bag for his own punch lines. Still, if the truth be told, by the end of the film, even his invention is starting to flag."(See all of Bob Mondello's reviews...)(Listen to the full review...) 235 seconds, 10/02/09
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: MODERATE "...a conceptual pip filled with quotable laughs and gentle pokes at religious faith at its most literal... it also looks so shoddy that you yearn for the camerawork, lighting and polish of Gervais' TV shows..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 976 words, 10/02/09
Anthony Lane, New Yorker: POOR "The movie is no easier on the eye, or the ear, than its whining hero.... The last third of the movie is as bad as anything I've seen this year..."(See all of Anthony Lane's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,618 words, 10/05/09
Justin Chang, Daily Variety: VERY GOOD "...smartly written, nicely layered... even when the pic threatens to turn either serious or sticky, it always has a terrific gag or non sequitur up its sleeve."(See all of Justin Chang's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 852 words, 09/13/09
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: MODERATE "...a conceptual pip filled with quotable laughs and gentle pokes at religious faith at its most literal... it also looks so shoddy that you yearn for the camerawork, lighting and polish of Gervais' TV shows..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 976 words, 10/02/09
17.0 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
The Invention of Lying's reviews are separated by an average 17.0 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
The Invention of Lying (42 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:The Invention of Lying's reviews cover 87.6% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 22,115 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 526 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
The Invention of Lying Coverage, Volume & Length (42 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 8.3 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
The Invention of Lying's reviews on average broke 8.3 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is The Invention of Lying's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
The Invention of Lying (42 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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