The Invention of Lying, or, Why Ricky Gervais Is Positioned To Save the Mainstream Comedy
What if I told you a movie was coming out this fall called The Invention of Lying featuring castmembers like Jennifer Garner, which was about a world where everyone told the truth, and the protagonist invented lying and revolutionized the world? Sounds pretty lame, right? Well, what if I told you that the trailer to said film, coming out this fall, whets the appetite to what appears to be a truly hilarious mainstream comedy? You'd say I'm crazy, right? Well, check out the trailer:
Naturally, a comedy co-written/directed and starring Ricky Gervais, he of the brilliant The Office and Extras and of the first stand-up comedy special that has ever made me belly laugh to the point of crying from last fall on HBO, is going to be at least a little funny. And the other lame-sounding film that Gervais starred in last year Ghost Town was surprisingly hilarious, even though the premise was straight outta Bill Cosby (not that Cosby's not funny, it's just, y'know, gentle.)
Naturally, this begs the answer to the question: Is Ricky Gervais ready to save mainstream comedy from the likes of Land of the Lost and Year One and, I'm bracing myself for controversy here, the culture of Judd Apatow slacker-com? Of course, this is a different type of film, the kind that you can theoretically go to with your grandparents and all get something pleasurable out of it. I say yes. Gervais has a way with his wit that can't be matched by anybody in Hollywood right now, and the combination of his acting/writing skills and the need for mainstream, big budget comedies is DY-NO-MITE. I can't wait to see this.
Naturally, a comedy co-written/directed and starring Ricky Gervais, he of the brilliant The Office and Extras and of the first stand-up comedy special that has ever made me belly laugh to the point of crying from last fall on HBO, is going to be at least a little funny. And the other lame-sounding film that Gervais starred in last year Ghost Town was surprisingly hilarious, even though the premise was straight outta Bill Cosby (not that Cosby's not funny, it's just, y'know, gentle.)
Naturally, this begs the answer to the question: Is Ricky Gervais ready to save mainstream comedy from the likes of Land of the Lost and Year One and, I'm bracing myself for controversy here, the culture of Judd Apatow slacker-com? Of course, this is a different type of film, the kind that you can theoretically go to with your grandparents and all get something pleasurable out of it. I say yes. Gervais has a way with his wit that can't be matched by anybody in Hollywood right now, and the combination of his acting/writing skills and the need for mainstream, big budget comedies is DY-NO-MITE. I can't wait to see this.
This entry was posted by Unknown, on
Monday, June 29, 2009.
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i thought that this movie sounded stupid until i saw the trailer...it looks pretty funny. sign me up!
Ditto -- I will definitely be taking my grandma to it.
Well, actually I'll be telling her about it cause she's even better at napping through stuff than Qualler.
If I didn't have a strict policy of not watching trailers online before I see them in the theater, I would probably agree with all yallz.
But there's room for both Gervais and Apatow! You even said Forgetting Sarah Marshall was good when you saw it a little while ago!
I do generally like Apatow-style movies, that's true, I'm just on a bit of an Apatow overload at the moment. There's definitely room for both, but there's something somewhat comforting in a broad, mainstream comedy that's also funny and is also not loaded with naughty words and full frontal nudity. 'Tis all.
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