The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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The Invention of Lying
Comedy · Fantasy · Romance · 2009
Set in a world where the concept of lying doesn't exist, a loser changes his lot when he invents lying and uses it to get ahead.
Movie details
The Invention of Lying
“In a world where everyone can only tell the truth... This guy can lie.”
2009 Comedy · Fantasy · Romance 1h 40m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.2 / 10
Community rating
Set in a world where the concept of lying doesn't exist, a loser changes his lot when he invents lying and uses it to get ahead.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Invention of Lying?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
A Life Less Ordinary
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A couple of angels, O'Reilly and Jackson, are sent to Earth to make sure that their next supervised love-connection succeeds. They follow Celine, a spoiled rich girl who has just accidentally shot a suitor and, due to a misunderstanding, is kidnapped by janitor Robert. Although Celine quickly frees herself, she stays with Robert for thrills. O'Reilly and Jackson pursue, hoping to unite the prospective lovers.
Meet Cute
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A wildly inventive deconstruction of the romantic comedy built around the question: What would you do if you could travel to your loved ones’ past, heal their traumas, fix their problems, and change them into the perfect partner?
Boot Camp
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Unathletic Whitney Carmichael signs up for an intense summer boot camp to reinvent herself and falls for her personal trainer. She then finds the strength to embrace her true self and ignore the others' expectations.
Maintenance Required
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Charlie, the fiercely independent owner of an all-female mechanic shop, is forced to reevaluate her future when a flashy corporate competitor moves in across the street. Seeking comfort, she turns to an anonymous online confidant - unaware she's confiding in Beau, the very rival threatening her business. As sparks fly both online and off, the truth threatens to blow everything apart.
French Girl
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Sweet Gordon, an affable English teacher in Brooklyn, has beaten the odds; a French Girl has fallen in love with him and he’s fallen even harder back. But their future is thrown into limbo when she interviews for an executive chef position in her hometown of Quebec City. To Gordon’s dismay her future boss also happens to be her former lover, a celebrity Chef with oceanic eyes and a hit TV show. Good luck Gordon.
The List
Romance · 2023
After her fiance sleeps with a celebrity on his free pass list, Abby Meyers, with nothing but five names and a fantasy shared by millions, sets out for Los Angeles to sleep with someone from hers.
My Fake Boyfriend
Comedy · 2022
A young man in a tricky situation follows the advice of his unconventional best friend and uses social media to create a fake boyfriend to keep his awful ex-lover out of his life. But everything backfires when he meets the real love of his life, and breaking up with his fake boyfriend proves hard to do.
I Want You Back
Comedy · 2022
Peter and Emma thought they were on the precipice of life’s biggest moments – marriage, kids, and houses in the suburbs – until their respective partners dumped them. Horrified to learn that the loves of their lives have already moved on, Peter and Emma hatch a hilarious plan to win back their exes with unexpected results.
A Nice Girl Like You
Comedy · 2020
Lucy Neal is thrown for a loop when she is accused of being too inhibited by her ex-boyfriend. In an effort to prove him wrong, Lucy creates a rather wild to-do list that sends her on a whirlwind and surprising journey of self-discovery, friendship, and new love.
Topper
Comedy · 1937
Madcap couple George and Marion Kerby are killed in an automobile accident. They return as ghosts to try and liven up the regimented lifestyle of their friend and bank president, Cosmo Topper. When Topper starts to live it up, it strains relations with his stuffy wife.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Ricky Gervais · Matthew Robinson
Written by
Ricky Gervais · Matthew Robinson
Ricky Gervais
Mark Bellison
Jennifer Garner
Anna McDoogles
Louis C.K.
Greg Kleinschmidt
Rob Lowe
Brad Kessler
Jonah Hill
Frank Fawcett
Jeffrey Tambor
Anthony James
Fionnula Flanagan
Martha Bellison
Court is in session
Put The Invention of Lying on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.