A Little White Lie

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2:17

A Little White Lie

R

2023

1h 40m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

35%

Tomatometer

37 Reviews

77%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

Shriver (Michael Shannon), a down-on-his-luck handyman who has never read a book in his life, is mistaken for a famous writer that has been in hiding for over 20 years. With nothing to lose, he accepts an invitation to attend a college literary festival and finds himself surrounded by adoring fans and an English professor (Kate Hudson) who captures his heart. Shriver must do whatever it takes for his shot at love in this fish-out-of-water comedy.

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Critics Consensus

A Little White Lie is undone by plodding, inelegant scripting and timid direction with its occasional warmth and humor merely hinting at the sharper, character-driven film it could have been.

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Tim Cogshell

FilmWeek (LAist)

Mar 15, 2023

I kept thinking to myself "This is a stupid movie -- but it got me."

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Tomris Laffly

RogerEbert.com

Mar 3, 2023

1/4

The film's biggest con doesn't come from [its] imposter protagonist so much as the messy script and direction.

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Richard Roeper

Chicago Sun-Times

Mar 3, 2023

3/4

When we talk about small, finely crafted, dialogue-driven gems with interesting characters and little or no CGI, it’s easy to say, “They don’t make ’em like that anymore,” but the good news is that’s not really accurate.

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Anna McKibbin

Paste Magazine

Jun 2, 2023

4.0/10

The supporting cast lend the story heft where they can, but the scale of A Little White Lie is too small to contain the wild, wandering tangents of the plot.

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Erik Childress

Movie Madness Podcast

May 22, 2023

1/4

This oddity keeps Michael Shannon in a daze while everything around him utterly fails to find satire in the literary world and instead substitutes both obvious and idiotic twists to find eventual clarity.

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Frank Swietek

One Guy's Opinion

Apr 4, 2023

B

A flawed but curiously winning comedy-drama of mistaken identity...a small, wistful dramedy that invites chuckles rather than the big belly-laughs of so many raunchy campus farces. And it’s all the better for it.

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Kathy V.

@RT64332554 Apr 9, 2026

Just saw the picture of Micheal Shannon and gave it a try. He usually has roles of the mean guy. I was mesmerized the whole movie. If this movie had other actors I think it would have just bored me.. Kate Hudson fit her role and Don Johnson , thumbs up and still hot.

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gary s

@RT12117935 Oct 5, 2025

This is a very interesting and well done movie, great actors and unusual story,highly recommend

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Aug 29, 2025

Funny in 1 hour and 40 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Andrew B

@abelousov2425 Feb 15, 2025

I loved it. It is hard to impress me with a movie. This one did. :-)

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Julian S

@akajulianscott Feb 9, 2025

An uneven film that meanders, leaving an excellent cast stuck at its center.

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Fred B

@fredinMA Feb 2, 2025

This movie is slow and quirky and has some cringeworthy badly conceived scenes. But at the same time, it moves along with it's own energy, stays true to itself, and the cast takes it seriously. I loved the ending, for all it's faults. The movie toed the line of farce all the way through, and I'm not going to take away the win for the poor, humble protagonist.

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Michael Maren

Director

Michael Shannon

Shriver

Kate Hudson

Actor

Zach Braff

Actor

Kate Linder

Actor

Aja Naomi King

Actor

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Synopsis

Shriver (Michael Shannon), a down-on-his-luck handyman who has never read a book in his life, is mistaken for a famous writer that has been in hiding for over 20 years. With nothing to lose, he accepts an invitation to attend a college literary festival and finds himself surrounded by adoring fans and an English professor (Kate Hudson) who captures his heart. Shriver must do whatever it takes for his shot at love in this fish-out-of-water comedy.

Director: Michael Maren
Producer: Michael Reiser, Byron Wetzel, Lucas Jarach, Josh Kesselman, Jina Panebianco, Robert Ogden Barnum
Screenwriter: Michael Maren
Distributor: Saban Films
Production Co: Thruline Entertainment, CaliWood Pictures, Big Fan Films
Rating: R (Language)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 3, 2023, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 3, 2023
Runtime: 1h 40m

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