The Invention of Lying: Ricky Gervais visits an alternate reality

: 05 September 2009; John Howell

gervaishappy I'm a big fan of Ricky Gervais' work, from the masterful BBC series, The Office, to HBO's Extras, his radio shows and stand up performances, it's all worth a look. He's easily one of the funniest comedians around. So I was happy to hear that in his next film project he has merged two of my favourite genres: fantasy and comedy. Gervais stars in the upcoming romantic comedy, The Invention of Lying, set in an alternate reality where even the concept of a lie does not exist. He co-directed and wrote the film with Matthew Robinson. It's always hard to blend science fiction and fantasy with comedy, but if anyone can pull it off with style, it will be Gervais.

A socially inept writer, Gervais, suddenly develops the ability to lie and quickly finds that in this lie free universe, dishonesty has plenty of rewards. The film also features Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe and Tina Fey.

"My character works in the film industry, where actors are really readers who tell completely factual stories," Gervais told Variety. "My character's a loser who's about to lose his job, and who's lumbering through the 1300s. All he's got to work with is the Black Death. But once he lies and pretends he's found lost stories, he becomes the greatest storyteller in the world."

invention Rickey Gervais recently had this to say on his website about the US promotional poster for the film (on the right):

"Here's the US poster. Yes of course they've airbrushed it. That's why I look like some sort of face lifted old queen. And fucking Louis... Jesus. Imagine what he looked like before. Fat ginger div kid. It's a good job we're comedians. We're meant to look shit I suppose."

C. K. Louis is one of the co-stars in the movie and appears in the promotional poster.

Next up for Gervais is Cemetery Junction, a film he wrote with longtime collaborator Stephen Merchant. Merchant also directs. Cemetery Road is a comedy-drama about 1970s insurance salesmen and stars Ralph Fiennes.

You can watch the trailer for The Invention of Lying on YouTube below. I've also added an unrelated YouTube clip featuring Steve Merchant and Ricky Gervais complaining about pirates downloading their material. Not because it has anything to do with either film, just because it's funny.

The Invention of Lying opens October 2.

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