The Invention of Lying

This flick had a whole lot of potential and then kind of petered out into something very non-special. Allow me to elaborate. The concept here is simple enough, and probably one you are familiar with. In an alternate universe, nobody has ever told a lie of any sort; people simply speak the truth at all times and that means they can't even make up stories or stretch the truth at all. Then one day Ricky Gervais discovers, out of thin air, how to lie. Because everyone in this world believes everything that they are told, he becomes essentially omnipotent. He takes a lot of money from a casino, cons a beautiful woman into having sex with him, and talks a cop out of giving his very drunk friend a DUI. All this was more or less simple and obvious expectable humor, and most of it was in the previews for the movie. But then for the second act the movie took a wild and daring abrupt turn and became an almost-scathing satire about religion. Ricky's greatest and most famous lie, in order to make people happy, becomes that there is an "invisible man in the sky" responsible for all good and bad things. He goes on to lie that people will all go to a wonderful place in the afterlife as long as they are good and don't do too many bad things in their life. In a sense, he becomes a false prophet, and the film holds no punches as the world around him falls into religious fervor and various parts of his grand lie backfire. I was shocked and awed. It's not as if I've never seen anyone lampoon religion, but for a Hollywood film to do so, and as a major plot device, just felt so bold and new and daring. What had started as a concept of "a man invents lying" had very suddenly and unexpectedly become a parody of religious beliefs. I was thoroughly impressed and hope for an ending that would make a lasting impression on me. Would Ricky's lies be exposed? Would others learn how to lie? Would the moral of the story be that lying is a good thing? Would it be that religion is a lie? That although it is a lie, religion is a good thing? A bad thing? Alas, all of my eager questions went unanswered as the third act of the movie was almost exclusively about Ricky's attempts to win over Jennifer Garner. The entire religion aspect is never revisited and the movie ends with Ricky either getting the girl or not getting the girl - I've spoiled enough of the movie and won't just give away the ending, but either way, what a missed opportunity. The movie was still full of funny jokes and laughs and concepts and whatnot, and I wouldn't call it a bad one. But it was a movie that missed a golden opportunity to do or say something very, very bold and different. Instead it ended up being a very typical guy-seeks-girl story and not much else. Oh well! At least it wasn't Caddyshack.