Good Lie, The (2014)
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Review #1,093 |
THE SCOOP
Director: Philippe Falardeau
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal
Plot: Sudanese refugees given the chance to resettle in America arrive in Kansas, where their encounter with employment agency counselor forever changes all of their lives.
Genre: Drama
Awards: -
Runtime: 110mins
Rating: NC16 for thematic elements, some violence, brief strong language and drug use.
IN RETROSPECT (Spoilers: NO)
You
will find out what "good lie" really means in this heartwarming story
about Sudanese war refugees who are lucky to find a better life in
America. Co-produced by Ron Howard (who
directed films like Apollo 13 (1995)
and Rush (2013)), The Good Lie is a polished if glossy
Hollywood production that could have easily skimmed the surface of its dramatic
potential, and its content milked for emotional manipulation.
However,
while it doesn't hide its Hollywood flourishes, it puts heart into the subject
matter, and in some way, elevating the film away from being one of those
well-intentioned Hollywood movies about a different culture with a moral
message. All the marketing efforts have
banked on star Reese Witherspoon to sell the movie, but she doesn't make an appearance
until after the half-hour mark.
Her
performance is okay, not particularly great, but she plays a lonely busy-bee
company executive whose job is to help find jobs for new immigrants. She doesn't care about anything, and her
house is in a mess. Into her life comes
three Sudanese brothers, displaced from the civil war, and striking the human
rights lottery that brought them to the States.
The Good Lie
is funny in a sweet way as it plays with cultural differences, and it works as
a decent, even educational film. Under
the hands of director Philippe Falardeau (It's Not Me, I Swear!, 2008; Monsieur
Lazhar, 2011), the film brings us into Sudan (the film was shot in South
Africa) as we see its natural landscape, the rural villages, and the people
struggling to escape war.
We
become acquainted with a few orphaned Sudanese kids, and this is crucial
because their journey is one that is shared by thousands – now referred to as
the "Lost Boys of Sudan". The
film doesn't cut short their journey in a quick prologue snapshot, but spends
ample time in Sudan, affording us the opportunity to appreciate what their arduous
journey means.
Their
eventual geographical transition to the States then becomes our transition too,
not merely the kinds of superficial forms of cultural transition that are
fodder for your typical cross-cultural American comedies, but a deeper
emotional transition. As far as the film
is concerned, it is presented as likable, accessible and also heartfelt. It is endearing yet bittersweet, and it does
enough, without doing more.
GRADE: B
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