Released in 2009, it introduces itself as a comedy that is not so much about lying which is defined as saying something that is not but it summarizes all the facts that are better kept silent. We most often lie to spare people and our feelings, to protect ourselves, for bad intentions and by omission.
The first fifteen minutes are short scenes about all the things that we are not saying out loud not to make the others feel uncomfortable and out of dignity. The humour is light, the rhythm is fast paced. It sets the tone that this film will not try to spare us from what we are doing in privacy and all thinking of.
The pace is then slowing down when introducing us to the main characters. The main protagonist Mark is middle aged, a bit overweight, easy going and kind. He is working as a script writer but his co-workers despise him, one of them because he is ‘earning more money that (she does) and he is less qualified than (she is).’ His boss is letting him know that if he cannot provide a good script in the coming week he will get fired. As he has already has financial difficulties, he is about to get evicted from his flat. He is then going on a date with a woman who tells him that nothing romantic could happen as he is fat with a chubby nose which makes them genetically incompatible.
After this half hour, Mark is going to the bank to withdraw the little money he has in the bank, there is a system failure that causes the employee to ask him how much he has on his account. We are then seeing the camera exploring his brain, reaching the part that is in charge of creating lies. Giving a number that will be just enough for him to pay for his rent and other debts, he realizes the benefits of the lie.
The comedy is then a summary of all the things that we are not saying as they are not ‘politically polite’ such as the policeman arresting Mark and being ‘so glad he is not black’.
He is gaining in confidence asking his love interest on a second date who accepts as he claims that, although he hasn’t physically changed, other changes occurred to him.
Ricky Gervais who plays the main character studied philosophy and it shows.
Apart from the comedy, there is a character who is depressed and when asked how he is feeling, instead of the polite ‘I’m alright’, he is answering that he is doing some researches about how to commit suicide.
When his love interest wants to remain friends, he is confiding to her that on an occasion, he ‘said something that wasn’t’, which is a reminder that each entity has its opposite.
The scientists have not define a specific age from which we become aware of what a lie is. It has been noticed that children not older than three could tell something that is not and deny facts. Some are also better at telling them than others.
There is also a lot questioning the existence of a God. As Mark has the ability of saying things that he doesn’t really know about, he uses this power to reassure the people around him, referring to ‘The Man Who Lives In The Sky’ and asking them not to do anything ‘bad’.
Some criticized that this film had a great potential that remained unexploited but in less than two hours, it manages to go from light comedy to more philosophy and to show the different types of lies. While Mark is at first a victim of being nice amongst narcissists, he is gaining power and confidence without abusing it.
Ads like ‘Pepsi because we don’t have Coca Cola’ or statements such as ‘This will be the best film ever made’ are hitting the spot. We all lie and it is honestly probably for the best.
