Gervais being snubbed?

At this point, you have to wonder exactly what it was that Ricky Gervais did to make the major movie studios and their executives so mad at him.

First off, for those who are unfamiliar with the very talented comedian/writer/producer/actor, he starred in both the original, British version of "The Office," as well as the equally caustic show-business sitcom "Extras," a co-production of the BBC and HBO.

But most people probably first saw him in the "Night at the Museum" movies. (He played Ben Stiller's eccentric museum director boss.)

Of late, Gervais has been making a bid to be an unconventional movie leading man. And unfortunately, it almost appears that Hollywood is trying to torpedo those efforts.

First, Paramount Pictures did what it could to sink the delightful "Ghost Town," a supernatural romantic comedy in which he played a dentist who could communicate with the dead.

Paramount scheduled few promotional screenings for that film and gave it next to no promotion.

That was baffling, because the reviews that existed were good, and there was good audience word of mouth.

So much so, in fact, that "Ghost Town" wound up becoming a minor hit on DVD, despite the half-hearted Paramount promotional efforts.

Now Warner Bros. appears to be doing the same thing with Gervais' latest effort, "The Invention of Lying," a comedy that he co-directed and co-wrote.

The studio is screening it on a very limited basis, which minimalizes its chances to reach a wider audience. It won't be screened for local critics, for example.

Warners did show the movie at the just-concluded Toronto Film Festival but didn't invite critics to those showings. Yet reports have leaked out about the film's quality.

At the time of this writing, the verdict from the Rotten Tomatoes Web site (www.rottentomatoes.com) — which compiles movie reviews from around the country — was unanimous. "The Invention of Lying" is good. Apparently.

So you'd think Warners would want to tout a quality film. Especially since there are so few good romantic comedy type films out there right now.

But I'm not a marketing person. Maybe what they're doing makes sense and maybe the film will be a smash hit.

Yeah, right. And I've got a bridge somewhere that I'd like you to see.

DON'T DESPAIR, ROMANCE LOVERS!

As I mentioned, there's a dearth of good romantic comedies right now. There are two films currently in theaters that might whet your appetites, though.

"(500) Days of Summer" claims it isn't a romantic comedy. And it does skewer some of that genre's conventions and cliches. It's refreshing, and stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel are both terrific.

"The Proposal" is one of two Sandra Bullock movies this summer. It's not great, but it has some chuckles. And at least it's better than "All About Steve." That might be the worst movie featuring Bullock in a starring role.

e-mail: jeff@desnews.com