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The tension in many books and movies often revolves around just one piece of information—a little white lie or an omitted detail that changes everything for the characters. And in A Little White Lie, when one man fails to admit the truth, he causes a whole lot of chaos for the entire literary community.
A Little White Lie travels to a small college’s struggling literary fair, which finds itself at the center of the literary world’s attention when Professor Simone Cleary (Kate Hudson) manages to track down reclusive author C. R. Shriver, who hasn’t been seen in the 20 years since the release of his controversial novel. Really, though, the man who shows up for the festival is just a maintenance guy from New York, whose name just happens to be Shriver (Michael Shannon). But as soon as he arrives, this awkward imposter quickly wins everyone over.
Of course, everywhere Shriver goes, people have already made up their minds about him—and the film plays with all of these assumptions. Some regard him as a literary genius. Others believe that he’s crude and misogynistic—or that he’s the ultimate man’s man. They celebrate him or attack him or write Internet profiles on him, twisting his words to fit their beliefs—but no one actually takes the time to listen to him or get to know anything about him. For most of the people he meets, it’s all about what Shriver can do for them—because, after all, everyone here is a writer with a book to promote or a manuscript to push.
Shriver is surrounded by interesting characters—from alcoholic writer/professor T. Wasserman (Don Johnson), who travels around town on a horse because he lost his license, to fair regular Delta (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), Shriver’s ever-present confidence boost—whether he wants her around or not. But in the center of all of the noise and craziness is Michael Shannon’s awkward, uncomfortable Shriver, who isn’t sure whether he wants to be the genius that everyone thinks he is—or whether he just wants to run away and hide from it all. He doesn’t say a lot—and few people listen when he does—but he actually has an interesting perspective. And when his story comes to an end, it has a lot to say about art and attitude and the dreaded imposter syndrome.
A Little White Lie may seem like just a wacky comedy about wannabe writers, but there’s more hiding beneath the surface. It can be pretty silly and over-the-top, but Shannon brings depth and heart to the story.
You can track down A Little White Lie in theaters and on demand starting on March 2, 2023.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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