The Good Lie Starring Reese Witherspoon by Warner Brothers Pictures Debuts Today Nationwide October 3, 2014 Our Coverage Sponsored by ECO SWIM BY AQUA GREEN
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Debuting today, The Good Lie is a heartfelt story about immigration from a war zone country to America starring Reese Witherspoon. We've seen nearly everything she has acted in and love her earliest work, and two thumbs up to your brown hair, Reese! In this movie she plays Carrie, an employment agency worker who needs to place the Sudanese immigrants into jobs.
"There's a lot of levity in those moments that involve the everyday," Witherspoon offers. "For example, they're told, 'When you go to a job interview, you have to smile.' One of the guys says, 'Well, isn't it insincere to smile when you don't mean it?' And the answer is, 'Yes, but this is America and that's what you have to do."
The story of how this happens and their adjustment to America is the thesis for The Good Lie.
They bring good hearts, but they need a lot of help and business understanding.
Transitioning from the Jungles of Sudan in Africa to Kansas City is an uphill battle, but one that this group is blessed and grateful to undertake, right down to ice skating. They had never seen ice before! Though from a Manhattan perspective other American cities are comparatively super-sleepy, if you come from war you will welcome the peace.
They come from an entirely different mindset, where there are villages and chiefs. We wonder if that is why Kansas City was chosen...there are other kinds of Chiefs there! It is utter culture shock for them-they don't know rules like looking both ways before you cross the street and perhaps a better orientation could have happened, but something as simple as knowing what to do when a phone rings is new to them. This is a real story of the immigrant experience.
The struggles that the Sudanese immigrants go through are unimaginable to anyone living in the lap of luxury in a first world country.
From a cinematographic perspective, in the opening we like the sharp contrasts that include:
Children at play Vs. Helicopter Jetting In
The calm Rising Sun Vs. the Interrupting Leopard
We do like their faith.
Also, early on, something happens which will discourage you from eating or drinking until much later in the movie...it did turn our stomach but it was part of the story.
Reese's acting talents get better and better, and we were also delighted to see Corey Stoll, who has been in a laundry list of films we loved lately including This is Where I Leave You, Non-Stop, and Midnight in Paris. Corey, you look an awful lot like our BC gridiron pal, Tim Hasselbeck. Do you fill in for each other?
Other than ice skating which we loved, high points include pizza dinner, the house cleaning complete with vodka celebration and Christmas of course.
In Sudan, one of the boys comments how: "The girls prepare the food."
There are sexist comments throughout that reflect the primitive culture they are used to, and they also give Carrie a tough time about not having a husband or being a good maid. When she tells them she supports herself, they tell her her survival skills are impressive...
The cow moments and farm visits bring joy to the Sudan people, reminding them of their lost jungle. They think calling Carrie "Great White Cow" is a term of endearment...
Serious issues like Terrorism after 9/11 are addressed, and death from cancer.
Whoever did product placement in the movie did a good job-the McDonald's reaction was entertaining.
The authentic casting reminded us a bit of the casting in Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks). The fimmakers also worked with the UN to gain access to Kakuma and to get actual footage of the refugee camp in Kenya.
Watch them go from this:
To this!
They were known simply as “The Lost Boys.”
Orphaned by the brutal civil war in Sudan, which began in 1983, these young victims traveled as many as a thousand miles on foot in search of safety. Fifteen years later, a humanitarian effort would bring 3600 lost boys, as well as girls, to America.
In “The Good Lie,” Philippe Falardeau, (writer and director of the Oscar®- nominated Foreign Language film “Monsieur Lazhar”) brings the story of their survival and triumph to life. Academy Award® winner Reese Witherspoon (“Walk the Line”) stars alongside Sudanese actors Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal, and newcomer Kuoth Wiel, some of whom were also children of war.
Mamere and Theo are sons of the Chief in their village in Southern Sudan. When an attack by the Northern militia destroys their home and kills their parents, eldest son Theo is forced to assume the role of Chief and lead a group of young survivors, including his sister Abital, away from harm. But the hostile, treacherous terrain has other dangers in store for them. As the tattered group makes the difficult trek to Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, they meet other fleeing children, forging a bond with Jeremiah, who, at 13, is already a man of faith, and Paul, whose skills become essential to their survival.
Thirteen years later, the now young adults are given the opportunity to leave the camp and resettle in America. Upon arriving in Kansas, they are met by Carrie Davis (Witherspoon), an employment agency counselor who has been enlisted to help find them jobs—no easy task, when things like light switches and telephones are brand new to them.
Although Carrie has successfully kept herself from any emotional entanglements, these refugees, who desperately require help navigating the 21st century and rebuilding their shattered lives, need just that. So Carrie embarks on her own unchartered territory, enlisting the help of her boss, Jack (Corey Stoll).
Together, against the backdrop of their shared losses, the Lost Boys and these unlikely strangers find humor in the clash of cultures, and heartbreak as well as hope in the challenges of life in America.
Along with Witherspoon, the film stars Corey Stoll (TV’s “House of Cards”); real-life Sudanese refugees Arnold Oceng (“My Brother the Devil,” “Adulthood”) and newcomer Kuoth Wiel; Ger Duany (“I Heart Huckabees”) and rapper Emmanuel Jal, who were both former child soldiers and lost boys; and Femi Oguns (BBC’s “The Casualty”). Rounding out the main cast are Sarah Baker as Faith Based Charities volunteer Pamela Lowi; and, as the younger Lost Boys, Peterdeng Mongok, Okwar Jale, Thon Kueth, Deng Ajuet and Keji Jale, all of whom are children of Sudanese refugees.
Falardeau directed the film from a screenplay by Margaret Nagle (HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire”). “The Good Lie” was produced by Academy Award winners Ron Howard and Brian Grazer (“A Beautiful Mind”), Karen Kehela Sherwood (“Frost/Nixon”), Molly Mickler Smith (“The Blind Side”), Thad Luckinbill, and Trent Luckinbill. Oscar nominees Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson (“The Blind Side”), Kim Roth, Ellen H. Schwartz, Deepak Navar, and Bobby and Deb Newmyer served as executive producers.
Behind the scenes, Falardeau reunited with his “Monsieur Lazhar” director of photography Ronald Plante and composer Martin Léon. His creative team also included production designer Aaron Osbourne, editor Richard Comeau, costume designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb, and casting director Mindy Marin.
Alcon Entertainment, Imagine Entertainment and Black Label Media present a Black Label Media, Imagine Entertainment and Reliance Entertainment Production, “The Good Lie.” The film will be distributed domestically by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment company.
The film has been rated PG-13 for thematic elements, some violence, brief strong language and drug use.
