Prepare to suspend disbelief -- Variety is reporting that Ricky Gervais and Jennifer Garner will be romancing each other in an upcoming comedy. Only in the movies (and in Beverly Hills) can people on such opposite ends of the attractive-o-meter find love. The indie flick, currently titled This Side of the Truth, is "set in a world where lying doesn't exist." Gervais wrote the screenplay with Matthew Robinson, and the pair will co-direct as well. The screenplay "centers on an Everyman (Gervais) who figures out how to lie and uses his newfound ability to woo a beautiful woman way out of his league (Garner) and become a success at work."

It sort of sounds like a reverse Liar Liar, and I can pretty much guarantee with Gervais so heavily involved, this will be one funny flick. If you're not familiar with RIcky, by all means check out BBC's The Office, the original (and still best) British version of the hit Steve Carell show. Gervais just won an Emmy for his performance on the very funny sitcom Extras, which will air an hour-long Christmas special Sunday, December 16th on HBO (Yay!). Garner of course is Mrs. Ben Affleck, and might just be in the running for a supporting actress Oscar nomination for her work in the terrific upcoming comedy Juno. I speak the Truth.

Does the c-word bother you? It bothers the people who are in opposition of the BBC's plans for its new documentary, tentatively titled I Love the C Word. The documentary will take an investigative look at how the c-word has transitioned from never uttered to freely expressed. When I personally hear the word, I have no passionate response. I'm indifferent. I never use it and when I hear it I don't cringe. Maybe that's why I'm shocked by how dramatic This is London is when describing the documentary as being "devoted to the most offensive word in the English language." I can think of a few words that are much more offensive.

So, what exactly will the documentary entail? Well, interviews with interesting public figures such as known feminist Germaine Greer and the author of The Vagina Monologues, Eve Ensler, as well as a critical look at how the word went from unacceptable to accepted .. well, partially accepted. The number one complaint from critics of the documentary claim that the word will be 'sensationalized.' No one has yet seen the documentary, so how they can make this assessment I'm not entirely sure. Head of North One John Quinn insists that the program will be seriously in its entirety and will be 'a grown up discussion' on the word's transformation.

This will be an interesting film for the etymologists of the world and just for people who find the origins of 'profanity' and our responses fascinating. Be forewarned, this film will show with un-bleeeped language, so if you have a near-death experience whenever it is spoken, then you might want to sit this one out.

Don't get me wrong, I think Felicity Huffman is a great actress, but I never really understood why people liked Desperate Housewives so much. I dropped in and out of the series during the first two seasons and I could never get into it, which is saying something considering how addictive my TV viewing habits can be.

It looks like Huffman is making a smooth transition into more full time movie gigs. Variety announced that Huffman has been signed to star in the film version of the British miniseries The Politician's Wife. The original story was about the wronged wife of a charismatic MP, who quietly plots her revenge against her husband and his cronies. I'm assuming there will have to be some changes to the script since I can't see Huffman doing an accent.

The series was produced for Channel 4 in the UK and included Minnie Driver, as a high-end escort. I remember seeing the series years ago on PBS and I was pretty entertained by the whole thing, and nobody does reserve and repression like the British. Nicholas Meyer, who has some experience with adaptations, having adapted Philip Roth's The Human Stain, wrote the script and Bob Berney is on board to direct. So even if the movie is just another Hollywood re-hash, for me, it beats the shenanigans of Wisteria Lane any day.

[via JoBlo.com]

Odds and ends from Thursday:

• If the BBC is correct, it looks like Brad Pitt's "interest" has turned into an official casting as far as that big-screen Americanized version of the BBC miniseries State of Play goes. Jim Abbott (writer and exec producer) confirmed Pitt's involvement after receiving a surprise phone call from the actor. Pitt will play a journalist named Cal McCaffrey who finds himself wrapped up in a murder conspiracy involving his former boss. [via Dark Horizons]
• What the hell is wrong with Tonight, He Comes? After going through THREE directors (Michael Mann, Jonathan Mostow, Gabriele Muccino), a new name is surfacing and we're praying this one actually sticks. According to Production Weekly, Peter Berg is close to helming the pic which finds Will Smith playing a superhero suffering through a mid-life crisis. If this is supposedly one of the "best unproduced scripts in town," then how come no one wants to direct it? Inquiring minds definitely want to know.
• Hey, remember how we told you that Orlando Bloom's character may not survive through a fourth Pirates installment? Well, Moviehole spoke with a rep for Disney who denied everything saying, "We are working closely with Disney and want you to know that while we cannot comment on specific plot points, such rumors are completely unfounded." Even if these rumors were true, it's not like Disney is going to come out and go, "That's it, you got us!" Personally, I say they kill off everyone except Captain Jack, then bring him back for a spin-off TV series on Cartoon Network called, The Adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow Jr. Whaddya think?

Feel free to say I'm "out of the loop" on this whole thing, but I just read about this story today. And, for those of you who, like me, had no flipping idea who Guy Goma is or was, well, his story is fantastic. But is said story worth an entire film?

A little background: Guy Goma is a man who wanted a job. After applying to work as an accountant for the BBC, they called him in for an interview. While he was sitting in the waiting room, some producer jumped out and grabbed him, thinking Goma was Guy Kewney, editor of Newswireless.net. See, Kewney was supposed to appear on TV to talk about a court case involving Apple Computer and The Beatles' record label, Apple. Long story short: They got the wrong Guy. And, what followed was a hilarious on-air interview with a dude who had no idea what was going on, yet managed to answer the questions in a somewhat intelligent way.

Now, producer Alison Rosenzweig (Windtalkers) wants to turn the entire incident (which, apparently, garnered a ton of attention across the pond) into a movie. She's currently searching for a studio to back the project. Okay, it's got a great beginning, but there's no way this story has enough juice to carry an entire film. I'm curious: How do you Brits feel about this?

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The BBC has decided to produce comedies! Oh yeah, and Hollywood is planning to make some blockbuster action films, too. No, but really, BBC Films is on the search for some funny new talent with which to start new relationships. In a joint venture with the BBC's television production department, BBC Films is hoping to find this talent, nurture them on TV and then eventually work with them on feature film ideas. Basically they're looking for "the British Steve Carrell," to one day star in "mainstream comedy feature film hits."

Honestly, I don't know what the BBC is talking about. Haven't they been doing this, less intentionally, for years? Let's see, there was Monty Python. Oh wait, BBC Films didn't make their movies. Okay, so I'm not that familiar with BBC television comedies since then and before The Office, but seeing as how Ricky Gervais will probably get wooed by Hollywood, perhaps BBC Films does have a fresh idea. Especially since the funniest British TV talent cum movie talent, Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, came out of Channel 4. Anyway, I am always open to more comedies, particularly British comedies, but the British Steve Carrell? That's like EMI Records in the 1960s looking for the British Monkees.

If you're looking for a few yucks on a lazy weekend afternoon, Cold Hard Flash points to a funny series of shorts on the BBC's Web site called A Fairly Reliable History of British Film in which Keith Guttenberg, who has been in more movies than anyone in history, talks about what he's learned while working in the world of cinema, and shows clips from some of his appearances in famous movies. Think of it as a kind of English version of The Critic with plenty of sly references to famous filmmakers and historical events.

While I generally manage not to get emotionally attached to the stars Hollywood tries to sell us, I will fight anyone who dares speak an unpleasant word about Morgan Freeman. Not only a great actor but also an incredibly thoughtful, intelligent person, the man is a near-deity - and he proved it again recently in an interview with the BBC's Radio Times.

The interview is refreshingly free of the cautious, PC-babble that most of the industry offers to national magazines, and includes discussion of why Freeman won't call himself African-American, how knew he would win (but probably didn't deserve) the Best Supporting Actor Oscar last year, and what he thinks of the Oscars in general. In addition, Freeman talked about the film he's currently developing about an African-American (sorry, Morgan) "tank battalion that spent 183 days on the frontline in France" during World War II. According to the actor, "They were cannon fodder and nobody hears about these guys because they were black. There's no-one to blame but us. It's not prejudice. People write about their own kind." The screenplay is credited to Gregory Allen Howard; Freeman's official relationship is with the still-untitled film is unclear.

[via Cinema Strikes Back]

Johnny Depp will be hosting a documentary on BBC Radio 2 on September 27. The documentary will focus on the life of Hollywood legend James Dean fifty years after a car crash ended his life. Then, on October 2,  Val Kilmer will host a documentary about Marlon Brando. BBC simulcasts on the Web, so folks outside of the UK should be able to listen in as well.