I love Ricky Gervais. I would pay to see him in pretty much everything. So I love *him* in this movie... but was less than impressed with everyone around him. Apparently, in this film, if you are completely truthful, you are also completely shallow. Jennifer Garner in particular is very unlikeable. Ricky Gervais tells her at one point that she is the most caring person he's ever met, and I couldn't help but wonder if all those scenes had been cut out.
He also has a very long section that feels like satirical religious stand-up. I tend to shy away from movies that have a stand-up feel to them - if you're just going to tell me jokes, just tell me jokes, don't try to cram them into a movie. Besides, not a lot of it was terribly funny. I'm not opposed to religious-themed humor, but most of this seemed like observations I've already heard all the variations on.
Brilliant idea carried out poorly... but Ricky Gervais is still extremely watchable and has some very good comic timing (especially as he interacts with those around them - the scene where he tries to persuade his friends in the bar of his new power is hilarious). This just never all came together as a movie, although some individual moments are very, very good. 3 stars.
1 comment:
We watched this movie last night, and I had this exact thought: "Ricky Gervais tells her at one point that she is the most caring person he's ever met, and I couldn't help but wonder if all those scenes had been cut out." On what planet could she ever be considered caring???
Also, the bar scene was excellent. Gervais played it well.
This could have been a GREAT movie with a better heroine and more of the best friend.
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