During the gap between the summer and fall film seasons, Hollywood scrapes the bottom of the barrel and serves fool’s gold to credulous audiences. The better films are left to founder unwatched in theaters, while the mediocre ones — which are most of them — are supported through steamrolling advertisements. One of the good films audiences might have missed these past weeks is Ricky Gervais’ “The Invention of Lying.”From the opening voiceover, we learn the world has never known a lie; everyone tells the truth. In this world, there is no fiction because it involves imagination, no transcendent religion as that requires revelation, no tact in relationships because everyone is impulsive, blurting at the first opportunity what comes to their minds, and no advertising as we know it  — after all, no one says, “Our product will kill you, but I’m sure you won’t mind using it.” An unsuccessful, harried lecture-film writer Mark Bellison (Gervais) goes on a dinner with high-flying executive Anna McDoogles (Jennifer Garner), who flatly tells him the date will be a one-off encounter without the possibility of parole. Bellison admits defeat, discovers some time later he’s been fired, has the rent due and not enough funds to pay for it.By chance, Bellison’s brain architecture gets reconfigured when he decides to clear out his account at a bank. He has now discovered how not to tell the truth (or invented lying, though that word is not used in the film).  With his new-found ability, Bellison comforts his mother who is dying, assuring her a place exists where she’ll go after death, that she’ll have her own mansion and get to meet her friends. Channeling the fervor of a potbellied Dalai Lama, Bellison informs the world of a bearded old man (caucasian, I suppose) who wants everyone to do good deeds, so they’ll be able to go this new place. Bellison’s new found fame gets him a slice of the American Dream and massive press coverage. He even gets on the cover of Time magazine. The film then settles into a steady state romantic comedy. Now that Bellison has it all, can he get McDoogles?”The Invention of Lying” is a smart film, thoroughly enjoyable even when its flaws jut out of the picture like scaffolding. It tackles issues such as death, the superficiality of appearances and the existence of God.Bellison is unable to defend himself from accusations that the bearded man in the sky is evil because he causes people to suffer. This is actually a branch of philosophy known as theodicy, defined by Max Weber as “the problem of how the extraordinary power of … god may be reconciled with the perfection of the world he has created and rules over.” Gervais, an avowed atheist, doesn’t resolve this conundrum, but he successfully challenges us to examine our beliefs about God.Gervais is adept at playing the everyman. His minimalist acting and exemplary nonchalance is endearing in a genre and profession where everyone hams it up. He doesn’t traffic in belly laughs, rather he successfully combines Steve Carell’s magnetism with Seth Rogen’s gruffness. In “Ghosttown,” his previous romantic comedy, he played an acerbic dentist who got a crack at love. Here he gets to play an overweight underachiever who suddenly strikes it rich.Some parts of “The Invention of Lying” are uneven, with certain jokes beaten to death, then made to crawl out to an undignified exit. Also, like many romantic comedies where the female interest serves the role of an attractive wallpaper, Garner isn’t given much to do except look pretty, which she does rather well.  But there isn’t a need to concentrate on minor quibbles in a witty, subtly provocative film that is well-worth watching.Freke Ette is a political theory graduate student from Uyo, Nigeria. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_fette.–Contact Freke Ette at [email protected]