Ricky Gervais gets to play the leading man again in the January 19th Blu-ray release of the Warner Home Video title The Invention of Lying.

The premise seems to be right up Ricky’s alley - imagine a world that is just like ours except nobody ever lies.

They can’t even conceive of the idea of not telling the absolute truth, and in fact seem to be compelled to express what is on their mind, regardless of how it might affect others.

In this world, like any other, there are winners and losers, and our main character Mark Bellison falls clearly on the loser side as the movie starts.

He is set up on a date with someone well out of his league (who of course tells this to his face) and his desperation increases with his job in danger and his rent due.

Except Mark is not like everyone else - he is unique in that when pressed into the most difficult situation of his life, he tells a lie.

Soon he is aware of the power of lying, especially in a world where nobody lies and so nobody questions the statements of others.

Needless to say he takes advantage of this, and practically invents religion as a side effect of his actions.

All in all I found it to be a pretty fun film - the premise was a little weak for me at times, and the blunt honesty was a little bit of a downer, especially at the start.

Though persevering with the movie paid off and overall I think it worked reasonably well, with the occasional nugget that was beyond hilarious.

The cast includes a huge number of familiar faces like Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, Tina Fey, Christopher Guest, Jeffrey Tambor and Jonah Hill.

The Invention of Lying was also directed by Ricky Gervais, along with Matthew Robinson.

The critical reception to the movie was middle of the road, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 57% and IMDb score of 6.7/10.

The Invention of Lying was also earned $18.4M at the US box office.

The video on the disc is a VC-1 1080p encode at an amazingly low 14.5 Mbps, and is presented at 1.78:1 aspect ratio, filling the HDTV screen.

Take a look at the details page for The Invention of Lying to see full resolution PNG screen captures taken directly from the disc.

The main audio is lossless Dolby True HD with 5.1 channels - 16 bits resolution at 48 kHz.

The disc is a single layer BD25, with 17.5 GB used and is coded for All Regions.

You have to imagine that the feature could have been given a lot more bitrate with so much of the disc left empty!

The release comes with a handful of features that include a Digital Copy for both Windows and iTunes.

Additional footage is presented in the form of deleted scenes and a gag reel.

More specific to this release is a short prequel set in ancient times, The Dawn Of Lying.

A behind the scenes Making Of featurette is included, as is one titled Meet Karl Pilkington, which follows Karl as an extra on the set of the film.

There is also a set of Video Podcasts from the directors Ricky and Matt.

The Invention of Lying is an enjoyable movie though feels like a pretty canned but decent Blu-ray release from Warner Home Video.

Certainly a great choice for Gervias fans, and really for anyone looking for something a little less mainstream.

The retail price is $35.99, or get it at Amazon for $19.99, saving 44%!

Extras:

• Prequel: The Dawn Of Lying
• Making Of
• Meet Karl Pilkington
• Ricky And Matt’s Video Podcasts
• Additional Scenes
• More Laughter: Corpsing And Outtakes

Synopsis:

In a world where the human race has never evolved the ability to lie, a man who suddenly discovers how will change the world. With this superpower, he can get anything he wants. Well, nearly everything. Ricky Gervais (Extras, BBC’s The Office) displays his hilariously deadpan acting talents in a comedy invention he co-wrote and co-directed. With a star-studded cast including Jennifer Garner, Louis C.K. and Rob Lowe, plus cameos by Tina Fey and Jonah Hill, it’s “explosively funny.” according to New York critic David Edelstein. Believe it.

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