3) The Invention of Lying
The Premise: Imagine a world where lying did not exist, where we would blurt out our deepest thoughts and secrets, resulting in a very blunt and quite dull society. Even movies, books, and all sorts of creative media show actual events as imagining a story would be lying itself.
The Failure: It wasn’t nearly as witty as it thought it was. Once again, I did enjoy this film, and was dazzled by the premise, but I ended up only chuckling a few times. When it comes to making an effective comedy, the one real rule is to twist the expected. The Invention of Lying twisted the perspective in the concept, but nothing else. Everything that was done was what any normal person would have done under the same situation. We would lie to get what we want. In fact, we already lie to get what we want. So what’s new with the story? Nothing.
The Fix: Unfortunately, I don’t think there is a fix. The film is the premise and without the premise, there wouldn’t be a film.