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29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I truly did not think Hollywood could make a movie of this caliber, March 30, 2010
Wow. I was totally blown away. The last thing I actually expect Hollywood to do nowadays is make a movie that is thought provoking, tackles some truly profound issues about the human condition, and is funny to boot.
Ricky Gervais has won instant respect for me. I bet a friend before coming to Amazon (I rented the Blu-ray on Netflix) that there would be a bunch of 1 star reviews. And that none of them would actually be about the film per se or its quality but would be religious peoplem who, get offended when someone asks them to think about what they say they believe and why.
Gervais ends up examining 2 aspects of the human condition, lying and religion. What would a world be like where people simply not only did not but could not lie. You get a number of humorous situations from this. It makes you think about the role of 'social lying' in particular. Manners, in a way, for lack of a better word
Now on to religion. I think Gervais hit on 2 issues that are very germaine. One how can an 'all good God' be responsible for the good and the bad. Very hard for anyone to explain although people try with that oldie 'everything happens for a reason'. Also explores an honest reaction to a 'god' well tourting people for eternity.
Of more interest to me though was the potential consequences of becoming focused on an afterlife at the expense of this life. The character played by Jonah Hill represents an all too real condition. People who place less value on their life, this life, because everything will work out in the afterlife or that is the real life. This can create HUGE HARM to individuals, society, and the planet. If people don't treasure every day as it should be, if they don't treasure the earth as their home, if they don't treasure each and every species as their brothers and sisters, they risk missing out on exisistence, they miss out on the universe, they miss out on Life. And they do not, perhaps, treat the Earth, themselves, and each other with the depth and meaning they should. If the Earth to them is a shadow, how can it mean what it should?
This is of course IMO. I am sure many people will disagree. But kudos, HUGE kudos, to Ricky for getting this on film. One of the most meaningful and thought provoking, yet also comedic, films Hollywood has done in years.
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57 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly spectacular--but in an odd sense, November 1, 2009
This film plays out like a British reality TV show. It just feels a bit off, but bear with it. That is part of its charm. Around 37 minutes into it (if memory serves), "WHAM!", it follows true reality and goes completely off script. That's all I can tell you. But here's why you really need to see this movie:
It's pure genius. The whole of it has a rather laid back feel, and the pacing is more a nice leisurely stroll through the park on a warm Autumn day than a Jason Bourne movie or the latest Transformers (both of which I enjoyed, but have nothing more to do with this review). This film draws you in slowly. For some of you it may seem a bit dry and boring, even pedantic at first--stay with it! This is the evolution of personal existence. This is real life as it happens. We go through our days performing our daily rituals and fulfilling our self-imposed duties and then we see something shiny and we pick it up, and suddenly the world starts to find color. This shiny new thing could be a relationship, or a new hobby, a passion for something we did not believe we could have before--or in this case--lying.
The point of this film is (naturally) to entertain us, but just underneath is a series of layered messages and thoughts to ponder on our own lives and the society we live in. In much the same way foreign films tend to attract a certain demographic, this film, feeling a lot like a film foreign to Americans (in pace and structure) is meant to attract people who want to THINK while they are being entertained, rather than wait for glimpses of Megan Fox in a wet bikini (and who doesn't want to do that?). This is truly a film worth owning, and it is a film worth watching a few times (spaced apart by a few months). It gets under your skin and stays with you--and it will without a doubt upset more than a few knee-jerk religionists, but that is the other half of the fun.
The movie is interesting, enjoyable and slow-paced enough to simultaneously allow the slow-to-catch-on to get the joke, but also allow those a bit faster on the up-take to digest the meaning of the joke while enjoying the film. Not at all a first date movie, but if you want to evaluate the relationship quality of your current romantic prospect, this is a MUST SEE. Much like Blazing Saddles, this movie will instantly tell you whether youa re dating the right person for you.
As always, thanks for reading :-)
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39 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful!, February 19, 2010
I loved this movie. It's sweet, and funny and really quite brilliant. It is about an imaginary world where no one can lie (and no one has ever been able to lie), and what happens to the very human, but kind-hearted man who first becomes able to. Though his intentions are mostly altruistic (remember, I also said he is very human, so he also does things to benefit himself), he inadvertently causes some big problems in his world. It's all very funny and sweet.
Yes, there are some strong references to the idea that religion is completely made-up, for the purpose of comforting people and calming their fears of death. For someone who can actually *think* about religion, instead of being a knee-jerk reactionary or dogmatic follower, it provides some terrific things to think about.
If your religious faith is so frail that it cannot stand the idea of a fictional story in which someone makes up religion in order to make the world a better place for the people they care about, then I'd have to say that you don't have much in the way of actual faith to begin with.
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