“Inspired by true events” versus “this is a true story” are two very different things. The first could mean anything. It’s harder to get upset when you find out fact and fiction don’t always meet eye to eye. However, when told that what you are about to see is a true story only to find out later that facts (both minor and major) have changed along the way, you have the right to get a bit more upset. Actual events inspire The Good Lie. And while they bring light to a critical issue, the character story was primarily fictional, as far as I can tell. Now, this brings up an interesting conversation. Would you rather see a strictly factual movie that doesn’t tell the most exciting story or one based on an actual situation but has, for the most part, specific characters and specific conditions that are more fictionalized? I’m careful with what to write here, not because I’m worried that I’ll give away any spoilers, but because I don’t want to knock a movie that I thought was good. And I guess heartwarming might not even be the best choice of words here because the main characters in this movie went through horrific situations throughout their lives. But if the story was all doom and gloom, would it attract the audience a story like The Good Lie hopes to attract? You want to shed light on specific issues while also offering hope. That is what this movie does. Nonetheless, I think the topic is open for debate because I believe a tiny percentage of the stories related to the brutal 1983 Civil War between Northern and Southern Sudan ended as positively as the story told in The Good Lie.
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