At first glance, a world without lies sounds like a good idea.

Imagine, no Bernie Madoffs, no need for lie detectors, no worries about whether spouses, politicians, repairmen (and the occasional journalist) are being truthful, not even any reason to wonder if those jeans make you look fat. You wouldn't delude yourself, and someone would tell you the real skinny.

That is the alternate universe of "The Invention of Lying," directed and written by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson.

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'The Invention of Lying'

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

• Starring: Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner.
• Rating: PG-13 for language including some sexual material and a drug reference.
• Web site: the-invention-of-lying.warnerbros.com/

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This is where Mark Bellison (Gervais) resides. He's a loser whose date, Anna (Jennifer Garner), takes a call from her mother and describes him as a bit fat with a funny little snub nose, concluding, "I won't be sleeping with him." And yes, he's sitting right there listening.

If that wasn't bad enough, Mark has fallen from favor at work, and his mother lives in "A Sad Place for Hopeless Old People" or what we would call a nursing home. Somehow, though, he develops the ability to lie, and it changes his life and those of millions around the world.

In addition to Gervais and Garner, the cast includes Rob Lowe and Tina Fey as two of Mark's co-workers, Jonah Hill as a neighbor, Fionnula Flanagan as Mark's mother and the comedian known as Louis C.K. as Anna's cousin and Mark's pal.

"Invention of Lying" is funny, smart and thoughtful and deals with questions of truth, hope and religion. It starts to unravel about three-quarters of the way through, as if a thread had been pulled on a snagged sweater and there is no turning back.

However, Gervais doesn't dabble in mindless or idiotic jokes, as such projects as "The Office" and last year's "Ghost Town" proved. In that 2008 big-screen comedy, he played a dentist who died briefly during a colonoscopy and returned to life with the ability to see and hear ghosts who pestered him for favors.

Here, a kindness proves to be a snowball that Mark cannot easily stop from rolling across the globe. It's part of a tangle of tart observations about the workplace, advertising, mating, gambling, entertainment and life after death.

Gervais plays nicely off the all-American Garner, who toys with that image with her character's risque opening lines, and Lowe as a ridiculously good-looking office nemesis. A bonus comes in the well-known faces who pop up in cameos and are best discovered for yourself.

"Invention of Lying" doesn't fit neatly into a single movie genre but borrows from a half-dozen, from rom-com to satire. At a time when comedies often pander to the lowest, R-rated common denominator, "Invention" may fall short, but it aims for the sky.

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