The Invention of Lying

STARRING Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill, Jason Bateman, Tina Fey
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Ricky Gervais, Matthew Robinson

When Ricky Gervais and his writing partner, Matthew Robinson, set out to make The Invention of Lying, they had one goal in mind: ”We tried,” Gervais says, ”to do the funniest episode of The Twilight Zone ever.” The comedy stars Gervais as the only person on the planet who is capable of lying. ”How would you handle it?” the actor asks. In his character’s case, he fibs his way through a courtship with an out-of-his-league hottie (Jennifer Garner). ”I wanted Lying to be a bit of an antidote to all the frat comedies that are coming out,” Gervais says. ”All the titillation and gratuitous sex, I don’t think you need that for comedy. You’ve got to aim higher.” This time, we think he’s telling the truth.