Hot Picks
|
|
|
White Lie
Canada 2019
produced by Karen Harnisch, Yonah Lewis, Calvin Thomas, Katie Bird Nolan, Lindsay Tapscott, Greg Stewart (executive), Christina Piovesan (executive), Sumit Ajwani (executive), Jonathan Pottins (executive), Andrew Cividino (executive), Mark Gingras (executive), Dan Peel (executive), John Laing (executive) for Film Forge, Lisa Pictures, Babe Nation Films, Telefilm Canada, Crave, Istic Illic Pictures
directed by Yonah Lewis, Calvin Thomas
starring Kacey Rohl, Amber Anderson, Martin Donovan, Thomas Olajide, Connor Jessup, Sharon Lewis, Christine Horne, Darrin Baker, Zahra Bentham, Shanice Banton, Spencer Glassman, Hershel Blatt, Luc Trottier, Carolina Bartczak, Matthew Owen, Dedra McDermott, Julia Knope, Tameka Griffiths, Deborah Tennant, Jamillah Ross, Lanette Ware, Heather Sanderson, Jennifer Vallance, Murray Furrow, Dan Beirne, Charlie Zeltzer, Connor Lucas-Loan, James Madge, Vanessa Matsui, Bradley Van Rooi
written by Yonah Lewis, Calvin Thomas, music by Lev Lewis
review by Mike Haberfelner
|
|
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
|
|
Katie (Kacey Rohl) is really the brightest star of her school: Instead
of quietly suffering from her cancer she celebrates life, organizes ballet
recitals with her as the center piece, and tries to inspire where she can.
She also runs fundraisers for her treatment on the side, but that's only
understandable and people are happy to chip in. There's just one little
problem, Katie doesn't really have cancer, it's all just a grift to get
her money and preferred treatment. It's still hard work though, and
Katie's doing her best to cover all her bases, to the point where she
doesn't even tell her girlfriend Jennifer (Amber Anderson) about her ruse.
But over time she has built herself such an elaborate house of cards that
it's almost certain to collapse with the slightest touch - and it gets
terribly close when for a scholarship reserved for cancer patients, she
needs to show her medical records. And while it doesn't take her long to
find young Dr. Jordan (Thomas Olajide) to forge her records, he wants
quite a bit of money - money she tries to get from her father (Martin
Donovan) ... and that's just what it takes to spoil everything, because
not only does dad refuse to help her, he doesn't believe her having
cancer. Now the money for Dr. Jordan isn't the problem, she ultimately
gets it from Jennifer and manages to sort things out just in time for
submitting for the scholarship - but only a few days before her big
fundraising event, dad posts the truth about her not having cancer on her
social media, pretty much destroying everything she has worked for with
one post. This of course hits her hard not only "professionally"
but also personally, as Jennifer starts to believe her father more than
her, and now Katie has to go into overdrive to fix things - but soon
enough she has to question herself whether the cost isn't higher than what
it's worth ... Now somebody faking one's own cancer for gain
sounds like the stuff of an inappropriate grifter comedy that's more
likely than not to fail - but White Lie takes its premise very
seriously, and treats tjhings in a realist way ... and actually that works
out rather nicely thanks to a very grounded directorial approach, coupled
with a screenplay that really works like exactly the clockwork a story
like this requires. But what works probably better than everything just
mentioned is that the film makes Katie into a relatable if fallible
person, and even if the things she does are horrible, as a viewer one
still feels compassion for her, wants her to succeed - also thanks to a
very likeable performance by Kacey Rohl of course, supported by a solid
ensemble. And all of this just makes for a really good watch.
|
|
|
review © by Mike Haberfelner
|
Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
|
|
|
Thanks for watching !!!
|
|
|
Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
|