2009 comedyRating: 9/20 (Jen: 12/20)
Plot: In an alternate reality where lying doesn't exist, a guy stumbles upon the invention of untruthfulness. He tries to use it for financial gain, to advance his career, and to get a girlfriend; instead, he accidentally becomes a prophet and founds a religion.
If you're going to ask me to buy a preposterous premise like this, you at least need to keep things consistent. But the execution is frustratingly half-assed. You get something that feels half written with half-constructed characters and a half-realized theme. I could forgive all that if there was a single laugh to be had in this mess, but there isn't. By the time it gets to the parts that would make Bill Maher giggle like a tickled old man, actually the cleverest bits of the movie, I was more aggravated than anything else. Not much, if anything, succeeds in this glossy Hollywood comedy. I probably should have just watched the above poster instead. What's going on there? It looks like they photoshopped him to make his legs disproportional, but why would they do that to Ricky Gervais?
A sports talk radio guy told me that I should see this.
About half way through this, I thought "Oh, this is supposed to be the thinking man's "Groundhog Day"."
ReplyDeleteThe premise is more of an extended sketch comedy idea than a full blown movie, and flauters because of it. The religion portions were unexpected, and what I remember most months after viewing it.
To be honest, that the opening scene:
"Hi! You're early. I was just masterbating."
"That makes me think of your vagina."
"Lying" takes a long time to cover little ground.
8.54794/20
I agree with everything you said there, but I don't approve of the use of decimals. If Mark Patrick (the sports radio guy who talked about this movie) hadn't have recommmended it, those first lines might have made me take the dvd out and watch something better.
ReplyDeleteKairow is right that this is more like an extended sketch where even the makers don't believe the material. I watched this not that long ago (a year, maybe), but I barely recall any of it. I do remember this is another example of the mediocre guy never actually kissing the hot girl. A 12.
ReplyDeleteI liked the first half of this film a lot more than the second. Once Ricky got to the point of trying to put religion on trial, it just got out of hand. As with most things like this, when a movie tries to answer the big questions, but doesnt know how.
ReplyDeleteI liked it a little more than you guys...I would give it a 13. Nice unlucky number.
Yeah, you guys are hitting the nail on the head identifying the same problems I had with this movie.
ReplyDeleteBut the real problem: Are we going to let Kairow get away with trying to slip a decimal in there?
Sheesh!
ReplyDeleteI'll rescore it and take out the decimal.
8 1/2
A fraction? Oh boy...you're making a mockery of the 20 point rating system.
ReplyDelete