Invention Of Lying (2009/Warner Blu-ray + DVD)
Picture: C+/C Sound: C+/C Extras: D Film: D
Ricky
Gervais may be awash in the success of producing both versions of The Office, but his work outside of
those shows has not been as good and his feature film work has been
particularly awful. Following the
disaster that will always be Ghost Town,
he was so-so in the Night At The Museum
sequel, but makes more garbage with the also-lame Invention of Lying that he co-directed with Matthew Robinson.
The
single-joke-the-is-never-funny premise involves a world where everyone says
what is on their mind and never lies. It
is amusing for two seconds, then the film tries to stretch it out to 99
minutes. As if it were a Liar Liar for the shallow, this should
have been a skit on a variety show or lesser Office episode. Instead, it
is another embarrassment that shows he cannot deal with or handle a feature
film-length narrative. Jennifer Garner,
Jonah Hill, Jeffrey Tambor, Rob Lowe and even Tina Fey cannot save this dud and
you should skip it… and that’s no lie!
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 digital high definition image on the Blu-ray is surprisingly soft as
if it were shot in HD with poor detail, Video Black and a generally
down-trodden look. The anamorphically
enhanced DVD is even worse looking outright washed out. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix on the Blu-ray is
barely warm and has no true soundfield to speak of, while the lesser Dolby
Digital 5.1 on the DVD is thin and often monophonic-like.
Extras in
both editions include Addition Scenes that could not save this turkey if they
had been left in and the ironically entitled “More Laughter” which includes
Outtakes that are hard to distinguish from the content of the final
product. The Blu-ray adds exclusives
including three featurettes, Video Podcasts of no consequence and a Digital
Copy DVD-ROM for PC and PC portable devices.
- Nicholas Sheffo
