
Ricky Gervais has never done anything that’s been less than hilarious. The Office, Extras, even his small role in Night at the Museum have all been brilliant. He even has a funny podcast. Until he blows it big time, I’ll blindly go see (or stay home and see) almost anything he’s involved in. He also seems to be able to get some pretty funny people to be in his movie.
As we noted previously, Gervais will be the star/co-writer/co-director of This Side of the Truth. Gervais plays a man living in a society where no one has the ability to lie. His character develops that ability and it pays big dividends, as lying often does. Since Gervais can’t lie just to himself (something I do all the time), Rickygervais.com has announced more people for Ricky to lie to and about. Jason Bateman, John Hodgman (he’s PC in those Mac commercials,) Tina Fey, Christopher Guest, and Jeffrey Tambor have all been cast. Previous cast members announced include Jonah Hill, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, and Louis C.K. As Ricky notes on his website, “not a bad cast for a comedy.”
I agree, not bad at all. The only small concern is that rather than writing and directing this with his usual partner in comical crime, Stephen Merchant (the Oggmeister), Gervais is joining up with Matthew Robsinson, who will co-write and co-direct. If you’re wondering who Matthew Robinson is, don’t ask me or anyone at IMDB, since his bio is empty besides this movie. Still, I’ll echo my sentiments from above, until he proves me wrong, I’m giving Ricky the benefit of the doubt. The excellent cast is just the cherry on top.
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Jason-Bateman-Will-Believe-Ricky-Gervais-Lies-8253.html