Christian Review Magazine Issue 4 - April 2015 | Page 8

funny, humane and made of
steel. I knew she was the only
person who could play the role
of Carrie.
CR: There are a lot of themes in
The Good Lie - family, faith, hope,
love - what was the one theme
you hoped audiences picked up
on?
MN: The power of sacrifice for a
person you love is not sacrifice at
all. It’s a privilege. And that
family is made of people that
you’re not always related to by
blood but connected by your
souls.
CR: The Good Lie has quite a lot of
faith-based content. Did you
intend for the faith elements to be
integral to the overall story?
MN: The war in South Sudan was
a religious war. And yet faith is
what kept those children who
were orphaned from giving up.
And they never abandoned their
faith despite the fact their
families and way of life was
murdered for that faith. I wanted
to talk about the power of pure
faith. It is so powerful. It
sustained them.
CR: How have audiences and
critics responded to The Good Lie?
MN: The film tested at 92% the
only other movie of the past few
years to test that high was The
8 > CHRISTIAN REVIEW MAGAZINE

The Good Lie cast: (L-R) Corey Stoll, Reese Witherspoon, Ger Duany, Arnold Oceng,
Emmanuel Jal, and Kuoth Wiel

Kings Speech. The Good Lie also
received a coveted A +
CinemaScore. American Sniper
and Selma were the other two
films with a score that high. This
is Ron Howard’s first film with an
A+ CinemaScore. The marketing
of the film was terrible and so
audiences missed it. They are
finding it now on iTunes,
Amazon and Cable, Sunday
schools, History classes,
Humanitarian groups. It’s
unexpectedly funny and doesn’t
go where audiences think it will
which is a good thing. The film
appeals to agnostics, atheists
and the deeply religious.
CR: Are you working on any other
screenplays/movies right now? If
so what?
MN: I’m about to write a mini
series for HBO about a Catholic
family who despite being
attacked for their religion and
cultural background became one
of the most powerful families in
the history of the modern world.

It would start with their coming
to the USA in dire poverty as
immigrants and then watch their
rise. Its called The Patriarch. I
also have a project called The
Goree Girls with Jennifer Aniston
based on a Texas Monthly article
by Skip Hollandsworth.
CR: What are your hopes as a
screenwriter for the future of
movies?
MN: Movies, great story telling
cuts through political
differences, breaks down
prejudice and helps tell us how
much alike we are to one
another and how close we can
be. I want to keep audiences
involved and coming back to see
movies. I want movies to be
available to stream the weekend
they open. I want the film
business to hire more women to
write and direct and star in films.
My dream is to see all types of
people working in the film
business.