Saturday, March 28, 2015

The Good Lie

I wasn't sure what to expect with this movie.  Was it going to be political?  Too documentary like?  Knock you over the head message type movie?  The over the top Christian movie?  Thankfully, it was none of these.

The Good Lie is a good movie.  It focuses on a group of Sudanese children who were forced to flee there home because of civil war.  First moving to a refugee camp and living there for several years, the four surviving children are chosen to be brought to the United States.  This movie is a story of survival.  First it is of their survival in fleeing their village.  Then it is about their survival of being placed in a completely foreign culture and having to learn to adapt to the new rules and new situations.

What I liked most about this movie was the honesty with which they told the story.  The four main characters are all actually Sudanese, three having been actual refugees and one being the son of a refugee.  Even though it was a story of fiction, one can tell that the creators of this movie paid attention to detail, both physically and emotionally, to bring an accurate portrayal to the big screen.  I felt like I was getting a brief glimpse into a world that I wouldn't otherwise get a chance to look into.

I also really enjoyed the way the film makers made us care genuinely about the characters instead of drawing it's emotion from playing on the contrast between the conditions in Africa and the new world they experience in the US.  Instead of shoving a message onto the viewer, this movie presents the situations in a feel good way.  You identify with the roller coaster experience of these people even though their experience is far from anything most views know.  The Christian themes occur throughout without overshadowing the plot.  This movie was very artistically and tastefully pieced together.

I highly recommend this movie for anyone looking for an emotional, character based, feel-good movie.  

I was provided this movie free of charge in return for my honest review.

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