‘The Good Lie’ and the true story of the Lost Boys of Sudan

‘The Good Lie’ and the true story of the Lost Boys of Sudan September 25, 2014

 

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Catholic moral theology teaches that it is never acceptable to lie. It also teaches that there is no such thing as a “good lie,” so the title of the film is unfortunate. But it is in literary reference to Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer, as the film demonstrates.
During the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005), thousands of boys and girls were orphaned when their parents were killed. Some of them were recruited to be child soldiers; others marched hundreds of miles to a refugee camp in Kenya.

Roughly 4,000 of these children were allowed to resettle in the United States. This is the story of four of them: Mamere (Arnold Oceng), Jeremiah (Ger Duany), Paul (Emmanuel Jal), and Mamere’s sister, Abital (Nyakuoth Wiel). The boys, now young men, are sent to Kansas City, sponsored by a church group, but Abital must go with the other girls to Boston.

Carrie (Reese Witherspoon) is assigned to find jobs for the boys, but she is thoughtless and has no sense of the culture shock they are going through—at first… CLICK HERE to continue reading my REEL TIME column at St. Anthony Messenger.

This is not a great movie by any means, but it is a great story that will move you. These young people (young men and women) have so much courage that it spills over to give hope to all who come to know their story. Reese is there for star power, but the real power is in the story.

Here is a brief video outlining the true story behind the film ‘The Good Lie’:


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