Lies My Mother Told Me
Encyclopedia
Lies My Mother Told Me is a 2005 Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
that aired on Lifetime
Lifetime Television
Lifetime Television, often referred to as Lifetime TV, or most commonly, Lifetime, is an American cable television specialty channel devoted to movies, sitcoms and dramas, all of which are either geared toward women or feature women in lead roles. The cable network is owned by A&E Television Networks...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Christian Duguay
Christian Duguay (director)
Christian Duguay is a Canadian director. He directed the Emmy nominated miniseries Hitler: The Rise of Evil, which aired on the CBC in May 2003. He is best known for directing the action films Screamers starring Peter Weller and Roy Dupuis and The Art of War starring Wesley Snipes and Michael...
directed a cast that included Joely Richardson
Joely Richardson
Joely Kim Richardson is an English actress, most known recently for her role as Queen Catherine Parr in the Showtime television show The Tudors and Julia McNamara in the television drama Nip/Tuck...
as Laren, Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Leslie Panettiere is an American actress and singer, best known as cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC television series Heroes. She began her acting career by playing Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live , and Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light , before starring at age 10 as Sheryl Yoast in...
as Haylei, Colm Feore
Colm Feore
Colm Feore is an American-born Canadian stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Feore was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Irish parents who lived in Ireland for several years during Feore's early life. The family subsequently moved to Windsor, Ontario, where Feore grew up.After graduating...
as Lucas, and Kailin See as Kristin. He was nominated for the Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
for Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series.
The teleplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by Matt Dorff is loosely based on the true story of Elisa McNabney, who murdered her husband with the help of college student Sarah Dutra and fled to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, where she eventually was caught. Two weeks later, she hanged herself in her jail cell while awaiting extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Adaptation
In Dorff's adaptation of the facts, Laren Sims is a single mother living in Destin, North Carolina with her parents and young daughter Haylei. Unable to afford ChristmasChristmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
presents, she pays with a stolen credit card, eventually is caught, and is sentenced to 90 days in a maximum security prison
Supermax
Supermax is the name used to describe "control-unit" prisons, or units within prisons, which represent the most secure levels of custody in the prison systems of certain countries...
. Rather than return to prison when she is found stealing a second time, she goes on the lam
On the Lam
"On the Lam" is a song by Kele Okereke, lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the band Bloc Party, released as the third single from his debut solo album The Boxer. The music video was released on October 8, 2010, with the digital EP being released on October 25....
with her daughter in a car she steals when she leaves a stolen credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
as security with the dealer while allegedly taking it for a test drive. They work their way across the country, supporting themselves by passing bad checks and using stolen credit cards while frequently stealing license plates in order to escape detection. Laren adopts the identity of a waitress she meets in rural Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
by stealing her driver's license. She and Haylei ultimately arrive in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, where Laren applies for a job with Lucas McKenzie, a wealthy alcoholic attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and ranch owner under the name of Allison. The two fall into a toxic co-dependent relationship and eventually marry. Laren embezzles
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
$90,000 from her husband's business account and he subsequently is disbarred
Disbarment
Disbarment is the removal of a lawyer from a bar association or the practice of law, thus revoking his or her law license or admission to practice law...
for reasons not made clear.
In an uncharacteristic moment of honesty, Laren reveals him that she is actually from Destin, North Carolina and has had problems in her past. Lucas uses this information to find out Laren's actual name and her sordid past. From this point on Lucas threatens to turn her in to the authorities. In a state of fear Laren sends Haylei away to school and hires college student Kristin to help her with the horses on the ranch. The two become very close (although never specified, a lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
relationship between them is implied), to the dismay of both Lucas and Haylei. As their relationship disintegrates and the possibility of discovery grows, Laren decides to poison her spouse with Kristin's assistance. She buries his body under a bridge spanning a shallow creek, and it eventually is found. Laren escapes with Haylei and leaves Kristin to shoulder the blame. Returning to Destin, she encourages her daughter to contact her grandparents and return to them, then surrenders to the police and eventually commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, by hanging herself in her cell.
Cast
- Joely RichardsonJoely RichardsonJoely Kim Richardson is an English actress, most known recently for her role as Queen Catherine Parr in the Showtime television show The Tudors and Julia McNamara in the television drama Nip/Tuck...
as Laren Sims - Colm FeoreColm FeoreColm Feore is an American-born Canadian stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Feore was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Irish parents who lived in Ireland for several years during Feore's early life. The family subsequently moved to Windsor, Ontario, where Feore grew up.After graduating...
as Lucas Mackenzie - Hayden PanettiereHayden PanettiereHayden Leslie Panettiere is an American actress and singer, best known as cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC television series Heroes. She began her acting career by playing Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live , and Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light , before starring at age 10 as Sheryl Yoast in...
as Haylei Sims - Jasmine Berg as Young Haylei Sims
- Tim Henry as Johnny
- Judith Buchan as Jenny
- Kailin See as Kristin
- Joe Norman Shaw as Edwards Samuels
- Kira Bradley as Tammy
- Stirling Karlsen as Jodie
- Barbara Gates Wilson as Detective Rayburn
- Marty Antonini as Guy
- Rita Bozi as Carolyn
- Carrie Schiffler as Roadside Diner Waitress
- Tom Carey as Jake
Differences between the film and actual events
In real life, when charged as an accomplice in the murderMurder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
of Larry McNabney, Sarah Dutra pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors decided not to pursue the death penalty, but if found guilty of first-degree murder, she faced life in prison without parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
. Her trial lasted two months, and the jury reached a verdict in March 2003. She was convicted of voluntary manslaughter
Voluntary Manslaughter
Voluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human being in which the offender had no prior intent to kill and acted during "the heat of passion," under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed. In the Uniform Crime Reports prepared by the...
and sentenced to 11 years and 8 months.
- In the film, Laren buries Lucas under a bridge, in real life, she buried him in a vineyard.
- In real life Laren's first name is Lauren, and she uses the name Elisa Mcnabney, Larry Mcnabney's name was changed to Lucas Mckenzie, Sarah Dutra's first name is changed to Kristin,and her surname is not mentioned, Haylei's surname was changed as well.
- In the film, Haylei is said to be an only child, but in real life, she had a brother named Cole.