Can you imagine a world where things are either “so” or “not so;” where the plausibility of what everyone says is never questioned because there is no such thing as truth or lies? Could such a world possibly exist? And, if it did, would you be able to deal with it?

If you’re Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais), you really don’t have much of a choice. In the new comedy The Invention of Lying, such a world actually does exist. Mark is an unfortunate screenwriter assigned the task of writing excruciatingly dry films (because, since lies don’t exist, fiction can’t either). One day, however, Mark is harshly fired, and to further confirm his status as a loser, he gets an e-mail from his love interest, Anna (Jennifer Garner) reaffirming the notion that she’s way out of his league, learns the truth from his secretary Shelly (Tina Fey) about how she’s always hated working with him, and gets verbally abused by his rival Brad Kessler (Rob Lowe). And Mark just takes it. No questions asked. Because in a world with no lies, he’s heard it all before, and he’s used to it. That all changes though when Mark Bellison becomes the first man ever to tell a lie. Just imagine the power that would bring about.

But, of course, Mark’s not malicious; he limits his newfound power to small things like getting out of police situations and weaseling his way back into his old position; white lies that don’t really hurt anyone in the long run.

There is one lie, however that really causes a ripple, and it’s that one that alters his world forever. As his mother (Fionnula Flanagan) lies dying, she expresses her fear of leaving the world and disappearing into nothingness. Mark, distraught at seeing his mother suffer in her final moments, tell her that it’s not true; that there is such a thing as an afterlife, an eternal paradise with friends and mansions for everyone. Thus, what begins as small comfort, spirals way out of control, and suddenly all of mankind wants to know what happens after death, and Mark is forced to compose this theory of “the Man in the Sky” who controls all aspects of life, both good and bad. What I couldn’t help but notice, however, was the striking implication that religion fails to exist in a world without lies; a very provocative concept.

The Invention of Lying, co-written and directed by Gervais and Matthew Robinson, starts off as a seemingly smart and promising comedy, and to a certain extent it is. We get quite a few laughs in the beginning thanks to pure cleverness, and even when the film delves into deeper territory, we don’t lose touch with the humor behind it. The casting is also brilliant. Gervais is always a pleasure to watch, and Garner is surprisingly charming as Mark’s love interest whose sole desire is to marry the perfect genetic match so as to produce perfect offspring. And I got a huge kick out of surprise appearances by actors like Jason Bateman and even Edward Norton. Yet, while I wanted all of this to work, I just didn’t feel like it was enough. Towards the end, the film falls victim to the familiarly formulaic rom-com plot we’re used to and the script loses any elements that could set it apart otherwise. And sure, it’s fascinating to think just how prominent lies are in our own lives, and how we would most likely be unable to function properly without them, and this film is definitely a fun portrayal of that, but I feel like it stops there. It’s not very original, or enlightening, or refreshing, as much as I’d like to say it was, and that, my friends, is the truth and no lie.