Cert 12A
110 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, injury detail, drug use
Whatever our moans and groans in western society, we will never have the remotest concept of the hardships of those in the third world.
And that is why films such as Philippe Falardeau's The Good Lie are so important.
Beyond the mere clashes of culture, this is a movie which deserves much greater acclaim than it has received.
It focuses on a group of children who run away from their Sudanese village after it is caught up in a civil war fire fight,which results in the deaths of their parents and other relatives and friends.
Their 1,000-mile walk to safety is fraught with danger but so is life in a refugee camp in Kenya where they are stranded for many years.
But it transpires that they are the lucky ones because aid agencies offer them what they see as a golden ticket to settle in the United States.
Difficulties surrounding their assimilation is the basis for most of the movie.
Reese Witherspoon plays a feisty job centre worker who initially believes she has been lumbered with the Sudanese immigrants but finds herself swept along on their voyage of discovery.
But the acting honours should go to Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal and Kuoth Wiel.
Duany, Jal and Wiel are all Sudanese and were all caught up in the civil war in real life. In fact, Duany and Ger were boy soldiers. The fact that they have survived and have now starred in a mainstream Hollywood movie is miraculous.
Jal is now a recording artist and appears on The Good Lie's uplifting soundtrack alongside the likes of Nelly Furtado.
I digress. The Good Lie is packed with humour and pathos. It would be wonderful if those who are so anti-immigration made an effort to watch it. Its subjects never wanted to leave the village in which they grew up. They simply had no choice.
Reese Witherspoon: "I was immediately pulled in by the story of the Lost Boys, just seeing their struggle and how they fought to survive...and then getting the opportunity to start over again in America and what inherent challenges that presented to them. The script really offered a perspective of these two worlds meeting."
Laughs: three
Jumps: none
Vomit: yes
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 8.5/10