Joshua Leonard (“The Blair Witch Project”) makes his directorial debut and stars in this interesting low-budget adaptation of a T.C. Boyle short story from The New Yorker about an aging Gen X-er fed up with his job editing commercials.

The day after a fight with his wife (an excellent Jess Weixler of “Teeth”) — who’s accepted a high-paying job with a pharmaceutical company without discussing it with him first — he calls into work and says she won’t be coming because their infant son has suddenly passed away.

It’s not true, of course, and Leonard generates suspense about what’s going to happen when our hapless hero gets caught in this outrageous fabrication by his furious spouse. The acting in “The Lie” — including a nice bit by Mark Webber as a stoner pal who lectures Leonard on responsibility — is good enough to almost overlook a so-so ending.