Ah, to live in a world where no one can tell a lie! Everyone says exactly what they think without the worry of sparing other people's feelings. There is no flattery, no deception and no fiction.
This is the world that Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) lives in. We follow Mark on his date with Anna (Jennifer Garner), a girl he's had a crush on since he was younger. He takes her to a restaurant that is, as he says, not that expensive because he doesn't make that much money. Anna tells him right off the bat she is not very optimistic about the date and that it will not end in sex, much less a kiss because she does not find him attractive. He is chubby and has a snub nose.
Where most guys would be like, "screw this" and leave, Mark stays because he is used to this brutal honesty - it's in people's nature!
So, after a bad date, Mark goes to work the next morning only to get fired from his job writing screenplays. It isn't really that exciting of a job anyway. Without fiction, people can only tell stories about what they know, so all movies and programs are basically about history. Mark is stuck with the 1300's when the Black Plague was going on and his boss fires him because nothing else interesting happened in this century and the plaque is too depressing.
So jobless, girlfriendless, and snub-nosed, Mark goes home to his apartment where his landlord demands $800 in rent. Mark only has $300 dollars to his name. The landlord tells him he must be out in 1 day and to use the money he has left to rent a moving truck. While at the bank, something triggers in Mark's brain and he tells the bank clerk he has $800 in his account. She believes him of course because no one can lie and gives him the money.
Mark is shocked by this new found ability and though he doesn't know where it came from, he continues to tell more lies. This gets him in trouble when, after lying to his dying mother about what wonderful things the afterlife will bring, people at the hospital overhear and wonder how Mark gained all this knowledge.
The world is now in Mark's hands as he uses his ability to lie to become rich and famous and to impress Anna, who he hopes eventually will love him for who he really is.
This movie is very light, funny and heart-warming. What I love about this movie is the dialogue that comes out of people's mouths in their normal everyday life of telling nothing but the truth. The advertisements are funny as well. A commercial advertising Coca Cola has a guy telling people to buy their product because it's famous and everyone knows it although it is basically just brown sugar water. An advertisement on the side of a bus for Pepsi reads: Pepsi, when they don't have Coke.
Jennifer Garner is very cute and sweet in her role as Anna and Ricky Gervais is hilarious and you can't help but love him. Rob Lowe is great as the conceded, snobby co-worker that thinks he's better than Mark, genetically and intelligently.
Look for Edward Norton, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Jason Bateman in hilarious cameos throughout the movie.
This isn't the best comedy in the world, but if you want a movie that's light-hearted and funny, rent this!
Stars *****
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