The Invention of Lying, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Reviews

It's amazing that somebody can change the world in such a hugely positive way and still be considered a loser, and while it's an aspect of films that is mocked by critics, it still has solid grounds in reality. Rarely have I seen a double feature of two films with similar stories and themes. Often I pick out random double features like Up and Drag Me to Hell, or Saw IV and Camp Rock. Today however I found myself unintentionally coupling The Invention of Lying with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

The Invention of Lying has a pretty simple concept that has been completely fleshed out to encompass an entire world. In a world without any lying there is no creative art, no creative writing, no acting, and no religion, one man has evolved the concept of lying, and while he at first uses it for personal gain, he goes on to use it to make people happy. It's at times very funny, and at times very deep and emotional. The world Ricky Gervais has created factually is more original and well rounded than the world that James Cameron created for Avatar.

However Gervais's film has the same pitfalls as Avatar. The plot isn't really as fleshed out as the world it inhabits. It eventually falls down to a simple love story which you think the film would rise above, but it doesn't. It kills me when they create a world like this and they don't fully use it. The pacing isn't that great either, especially in the scene where Ricky Gervais's character invents religion. You'd think that they could've found a way of explaining religion that didn't take up so much time and not even try to mask how much time it has taken up.

As for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, it too deals with an inventor, but in a much more literal fashion. The world they live in is much more reliant on corny childish dialogue, and in any other film it would've gone to waste, but here it works to create some much needed hillarity. As for the story and the pacing, they are both fitted to maintaining the film as a pure parody of the Action-Disaster film genre. The final action sequence takes up nearly half of the film's running time.

It doesn't really go all the way on the emotional level, but it doesn't have to. The jokes are enough to keep us actively entertained in the films. These aren't simple throw away jokes that aren't really jokes and are just plain dialogue like in Invention of Lying. They are memorable stabs at the many constant factors in any action movie. Overall I found myself enjoying Cloudy much more than Invention. My Grade for Invention of Lying is a B-. My Grade for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is B.