Get The Good Lie
CUSTOMER REVIEW
This is a movie about Sudanese refugees who make it to America before 9/11 and constantly struggle to adjust to American culture and reunite with each other, working laboriously through employment situations and government red tape so they can reunite while pursuing the American dream. Most of the movie takes place in America, after an eye-opening introductory section covering their escape from Sudan. The Sudanese refugees are played by real Sudanese refugees and children of refugees, we learn at the end credits. They do a fantastic job. Their Christian faith runs into moral issues with how business is done in America, and they deal with identity crises and the sometimes unpredictable attitudes of those who are supposed to help them with employment. The young Sudanese men are assigned to Kansas City, under the sponsorship of a brash lady who slowly grows in compassion toward them, played by Reese Witherspoon. The young Sudanese woman whom they were close to gets assigned to Boston. The most prolonged struggle in the movie has to do with their attempt to get her brought from Boston to Kansas City.
The way the movie flows kept me interested the entire time. The refugee situation had gained my full attention within 5 minutes of the movie starting, and the refugees' innocence, honesty, and courage kept me interested in the outcome of their attempt to reunite. The movie really got me thinking about the meaning of community vs. country. The refugees consider themselves a small community of close friends rather than Sudanese or American. The American dream is very important to these refugee characters, but all of them want to be reunited more than material prosperity. In the end, one of them has to decide about how important the promise of wealth and the beauty of the American land are in his priorities, and the way it plays out is very moving.
I really like the humor, most of which is based on cultural dissimilarity. That kind of humor worked really well in other fish-out-of-water comedies I've seen, like The Terminal (starring Tom Hanks as an eastern European immigrant stuck in an airport), the recently released Disney movie Million Dollar Arm (about creating a market for baseball in India and bringing the young champions to the United States), and Crocodile Dundee. It works equally well in this movie. One of the funny repeated jokes on The Good Lie is that they never cease to call 'em "villages" instead of towns or cities, and always use formal sentence construction when expressing gratitude. It is at the same time funny and sad when they get exasperated responses from Americans because of their noble values. It should make one reevaluate our demanding, accomplishment-based western values and consider whether the Sudanese refugees understand true success better. Hard work and compassionate action go together for the Sudanese, but the Americans they meet can't understand that mentality. There's a great quote at the end credits which goes something like, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." The Reese Witherspoon character, who is into what she wants in life and feels she doesn't have time for the refugees, learns that to some extent over time.
I also found their attempts to keep stability through their Christian faith really poignant, because they can't seem to get stability in spite of having a regular prayer life and being strongly committed to each other and to principles of honesty and hard work.
The title "The Good Lie" has a connection to a plot element at the end which, despite objectively seeming bittersweet, is in fact very rewarding and satisfying. The title won't make sense until you see the movie. It's like what happens near the end of the movie War Horse when Albert gets the horse back because he was willing to give it up, or parables of Jesus about seeking virtue over pleasure for the benefit of the soul. Trying to control and have everything you want leads you to misery, but being willing to make sacrifices opens up possibilities for greater blessings. This is a movie that runs the gamut of emotions without leaving me drained by the end. I love it when dramas leave me with a good feeling at the end that makes even the bittersweet elements feel rewarding because of the characters' growth.
I hope I've convinced you to try the movie!