SUE’S REVIEWS: THE GOOD LIE “The Good Lie” is a 110 minute PG-13 Rated Drama directed by Philippe Falardeau starring Reese Witherspoon (Carrie), Arnold Oceng (Mamere), Ger Duany (Jeremiah), Emmanuel Jal (Paul), Corey Stoll (Jack), Kuoth Wiehl (Abital), Sarah Baker (Pamela) and Femi Oguns (Theo). This movie is loosely based on a true story. Carrie is an employment agency counselor in Kansas who is given the opportunity to help Sudanese refugees known as “The Lost Boys of Sudan” resettle in America. These boys (and girls) were orphaned by the brutal civil war in Sudan in the early 1980s. In 2001 they were sent to the USA from a refugee camp in Kenya. The extraordinary humanitarian efforts of many Americans changed all of their lives forever. This is a very informative movie with a prologue and epilogue that provides many facts about the desperate situation in Sudan in the 1980s. I think the story and message are better than the movie itself (but the movie is definitely worth seeing if the subject matter is of interest to you). It depicts the indescribable brutality which thousands of young Sudanese (and their families) were subjected to and the subsequent opportunities many of them were given in the USA resettlement program. These children, who were born with so little, lost so much in the brutal civil war yet they never lost their dignity, respect and gratitude at being given such an incredible opportunity. Reese Witherspoon delivers a believable, passionate performance as a hardened employment counselor who starts out treating them as any other clients and ends up bonding with them in a truly remarkable way . What I did not like about the movie is the shallow portrayal of many of the characters and the way the plot takes incredible leaps in time without much explanation. The movie does provide key dates as reference points but omits other important milestones in the story. The closing credits show real photos of the actors, many of whom are true refuges from Sudan. I love the significance of the title, “The Good Lie” which is explained midway in the film and later at the end. It is difficult to watch this meaningful film without a box of Kleenex, especially at the end where an African proverb appears on the screen to sum it up: “If you want to go fast go alone but if you want to go far go together”. I give “The Good Lie” a 7.0 on the ABBONDANZOMETER (Scale of 1-10).
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 21:18:52 +0000