Ricky Gervais (Ghost Town) acquires his position in directing his first ever motion picture, this is an accomplishment and a suitable challenge for such a worthy and enthusiastic person. His precedent attempts as a director only feature the TV programmes The Office and the flawless Extras. Some may come across this flick as a hidden gem and others may abandon it, as Ricky Gervais’s humour is noticeably implanted into this, and can be digested as a bit love/hate for most.
To establish the narrative simply Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) inhabitants in a world where everyone tells the truth and he lives a pretty depressing life, middle aged, slightly obese and lack of confidence are just a couple of his own truths in his day to day battle to sustain happiness. Mark is eager to detect something that will liberate him, how does he do this? well primitively he lies. The first thing he attempts to do is gain the affection from Anna who is performed by the delightful Jennifer Garner (Elektra). This then gets sidetracked when Mark is lying to his mum on her death bed defining that the afterlife involves big mansions, he is overheard by the nurses who then distribute the word to local newspapers that they believe Mark can communicate with God. This takes a dire effect on his life.
The admiring fact about this project is Ricky Gervais also acts as the lead character which for me displays a sign of commitment and keeps me confident when attending the cinema. As I am not actually a genuine supporter of some of Ricky Gervais’s work I was pleasantly taken back and astounded by this and some what eager to view what Gervais can pull out of his sleeve next. The cast is also crunched with a small cluster of additional top notch actors such as Jonah Hill (Superbad) who seems to be discovering his way back into being a main role character and not just a cameo (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Ghost Town), and also Rob Lowe (Thank You for Smoking) who we see make a firm effort in elaborating on this already superb comedy.
A masterpiece? Perhaps not, more like a perfect birth point for what could hopefully be the beginning of a directing pursuit for Gervais. So check this out with a pinch of salt and don’t think you will know how the story will cease ten minutes in, as Gervais has evidentially poured his heart and character into this suspenseful, surprising comedy, and it would be a crying shame to miss.
Andrew Dex
Can be found at the following link: http://atnzone.com/nz/2009/11/02/9629/
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