South Korean filmmakers Kim Ji-woon and Park Chan-wook are some of the latest foreign filmmakers that have moved into English-language filmmaking – to mixed results – and now Canadian “Monsieur Lazhar” helmer Philippe Falardeau is set to join them with a major star of his own. Variety is reporting that Reese Witherspoon is circling the lead of “The Good Lie” with Falardeau attached to direct.
Written by “Boardwalk Empire” scribe Margaret Nagle, the film centers on “a young refugee of the Sudanese Civil War who wins a lottery for relocation to the United States with three other lost boys. They develop an unlikely friendship with a brash American woman assigned to help them, but the young man struggles to adjust to his new life and his feelings of guilt about the brother he left behind.” Though no deal is finalized yet, Witherspoon will obviously play the brash American woman who befriends the boys.
It’s encouraging that Falardeau is sticking with an intimate story for his follow-up to his previous Academy Award-nominated film, which was a big succes in its home and native land, winning Best Picture and Best Director (among others) at the Genie Awards (Canada's Oscars, basically). In fact, it seems he’s returning to explore the effects of being a transplant as the lead in “Monsieur Lazhar” was an Algerian immigrant to Canada. There’s currently no start date scheduled for production but once Witherspoon’s officially locked up, expect “The Good Lie” to kick into high gear.
