Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Jennifer Garner will be heading into a new kind of territory when she joins Ricky Gervais to make the big-screen "This Side of the Truth" comedy this spring.

"It's, well … 'raunchy' isn't the word. It's a little bit more … let's say, 'ribald' … than what I've done before," admits Garner, who is currently being seen on screen in the rightfully acclaimed "Juno." She adds, "It's the funniest, funniest, most character-driven movie comedy I've seen in a long time."

Gervais is to make his feature directorial debut with the comedy that's set in a world where no one has ever lied — until Gervais'sl character, a down-on-his-luck actor. His co-writer on the film, Matt Robinson, also codirects.

Speaking of the British funnyman responsible for bringing the original "The Office" to life, in addition to "Extras," Jennifer says she didn't even need to read the script to know she wanted to do it: "I just want to work with him."

First up for this year, however, she'll make the romantic comedy "The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" with Matthew McConaughey.

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: Armand Assante reports the upcoming big-screen western "The Man Who Came Back" — exec produced by "Young and the Restless" star Eric Braeden — is "a very hard look at the core of racism and racist attitudes."

The independent film, which has a cast including Sean Young, Billy Zane and George Kennedy, chronicles the second bloodiest strike in American history, which took place in the 1870s in the South after the Civil War. "It's a wonderful study of the racism, which I would assume was the kind of spirit that existed after the Civil War, that was so vicious and gave birth to the Ku Klux Klan. I play a character in the movement," says Assante, adding that he worked with the film's director, Glen Pitre, on the 1986 film "Belizaire the Cajun."

"I hope that Glen succeeds as well as he did with 'Belizaire' because it could be an impactful film.

It really gives people a cold look at how insidious racism is and what gave birth to the underlying issues that are still prevalent in our society that started back then."

Assante has nothing but praise for his exec producer/co-star, Braeden, who plays a plantation owner who seeks revenge after being framed for a lynching. "It's an amazing role for Eric," he says, adding, "What a wonderful individual he is, a very bright person. I was quite surprised and amazed at his intellect."

THE BIG-SCREEN SCENE: Veteran singer/songwriter BJ Thomas says he got to reteam with his old pal, composer Steve Dorff, for the soundtrack of the upcoming indie film "Jake's Corner" with Richard Tyson, Diane Ladd and Colton Rodgers. "Steve is doing the score. We did the 'Growing Pains' theme song together years ago," recalls Thomas. "His son Andrew cowrote most of the material. I sing on seven songs on the soundtrack and also played a little part in the movie."

Thomas continues, "It's about a misfit group of guys who live in Jake's Corner, which is a trailer park kind of thing with a bar and grocery store. A 10-year-old kid is thrust upon us because he lost his parents in a tragedy and all these misfit guys have to step up and be responsible for this kid. I play a guy named Doc, who was a medic in Vietnam. It's a real inspirational movie written and directed by Jeff Santo, the son of Ron Santo, the legendary third baseman for the Cubs, who had Type 1 diabetes and had to play without insulin. Jeff's a great writer and director. I think people will like it."

WORK HARD, LAUGH HARD: Actress/standup comedienne Tasha Smith says she didn't hesitate to join the upcoming comedy "Something Like a Business" because "I got a chance to hang out with my comedian friends. I wanted to do it so bad because I knew I'd be laughing every single day." In the spoof that also stars Kevin Hart, David Alan Grier, Chris Spencer and J. Anthony Brown, Smith plays "an escort who's basically a victim of Hurricane Katrina, so she ends up moving to Washington, D.C., and working for an escort service. … I'm like the Angela Davis of the escort service. I had such a blast with those guys."

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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