Reese Witherspoon to produce and star in 'The Beard'

Reese Witherspoon. We love her. America loves her. But she's trapped in a devastating slump that has seen her starring in some truly awful romantic comedies. Remember How Do You Know? Won't blame ya if you don't. This Means War was only this year, and will likely go forgotten until it turns up on a bunch of "Worst of the Year" lists in a few months. Witherspoon needs a hit to get back on track, but her next film sounds like more junk.

Witherspoon is set to produce and star in The Beard, and no, she won't suddenly be growing a ton of facial hair. Details are still a little under wraps, but the story has her playing a woman who poses as the girlfriend of gay men so they can hide their sexual orientation. How much you wanna bet she falls in love with one of them, then proceeds to try and make the guy switch teams? It'd be like an unofficial sequel to Chasing Amy. Maybe Ben Affleck can be her co-star? Nah, he's above starring in Witherspoon comedies at this point in his career. Think about that!!!

The script comes from Becca Green(MTV's Good Vibes), and before production can get underway a director will need to be found. Witherspoon is currently filming Devil's Knot, the West Memphis Three flick which sounds a heck of a lot better than this. [THR]