What would the world be like if there were no stories to be told, no yarns to be spun, no embellishments of past adventures? How would we as human beings interact if we could only communicate based on the facts; no telling people what they want to hear (advertisers would be at a loss for words)?This is the world in which Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) and the rest of humanity dwell. It is an existence that is plain, ordinary, and colorless.
Then one moment something "clicks" in Mark's head and he tells the world's first lie. There is no word for "lie" because it hasn't been invented (nor are people capable of such a things) and as result people believe every thing Mark says (regardless of how outlandish his words seem to be).
This movie could have gone the road of sophomoric comedy yet ends up becoming a Truman Show of sorts when Mark tells his dying mother the greatest "story" ever told: when you die you go to a wonderful mansion in the sky. Because of this story his terrified mother dies with a hopeful peace.
This great "hope" leads the rest of civilization to turn to Mark for all of life's deep and profound mysteries through which Mark becomes part Moses, part Jesus as he communicating about "the man in the sky".
Over all this movie has more to do with how we view and relate to one another on a level far below the surface making this a film that is both fun and sincere.
For those of you that have seen the movie, what questions did this raise in your mind? Was it difficult for you to hear about "the man in the sky" as a "story"? In what ways this movie accurate in its assessment of the human need to connect with "something greater"? In what ways was this movie theologically accurate/inaccurate?
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