A Bright Shining Lie (film)

*A Bright Shining Lie*
A Bright Shining Lie
	Promotional poster
Genre	War drama
Based on	A Bright Shining Lie; by Neil Sheehan
Written by	Terry George
Directed by	Terry George
Starring	Bill Paxton; Amy Madigan; Vivian Wu; Donal Logue; Eric Bogosian; Kurtwood Smith;
Music by	Gary Chang
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Lois Bonfiglio
Producer	Greg Ricketson
Production locations	Lopburi, Thailand; Cirebon, Central Java, Indonesia
Cinematography	Jack Conroy
Editor	Nicholas Beauman
Running time	118 minutes
Production companies	HBO Pictures; Bleecker Street Films;
Budget	$14 million
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	May 30, 1998

A Bright Shining Lie is a 1998 American war drama television film written and directed by Terry George, based on Neil Sheehan's 1988 book of the same name and the true story of John Paul Vann's experience in the Vietnam War. It stars Bill Paxton, Amy Madigan, Vivian Wu, Donal Logue, Eric Bogosian and Kurtwood Smith. It aired on HBO on May 30, 1998.

Cast[edit]

Bill Paxton as John Paul Vann
Karina Logue as Barmaid
Amy Madigan as Mary Jane Vann
Donal Logue as Steven Burnett
Harve Presnell as General Paul Harkins
Robert John Burke as Frank Drummond
Bill Whelan as Ron Dray
Lim Kay Tong as Colonel Cao Huynh Van
Seng Kawee as VC Leader
Vivian Wu as Lee
Van Thoa Trinh as VC Commander
Richard Libertini as Marriage Counselor
James Bigwood as Office Manager
Ed Lauter as General Weyand
Kurtwood Smith as General Westmoreland
Eric Bogosian as Doug Elders, a composite character not in the book melding elements of real-life people in the book, Daniel Ellsberg and Douglas Ramsey, who both worked with Vann; Ellsberg and reporter David Halberstam had asked that their names be removed from the production after reading an early draft of the screenplay^[2]
James Rebhorn as Ambassador Bunker
Les J.N. Mau as Colonel Dinh
David Warshofsky as Terry Pike
Thanh Nguyen as ARVN Translator
Pichariva Narakbunchai as Annie
Kris von Habsburg as a US soldier
Matthew Ascherl, Simon Gaut and Jamie Watts (American GI's), featured in opening scene(s) at airfield

Award nominations[edit]

In 1998, the film was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie. In 1999, Bill Paxton was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his performance in the film.^[3]

References[edit]

^ Richmond, Ray (May 27, 1998). "A Bright, Shining Lie". Variety. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
^ Rick Lyman (May 20, 1998). "HBO's 'Shining Lie' Draws Early Complaints". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
^ "A Bright Shining Lie (TV)". FilmAffinity. Archived from the original on 2015-10-26. Retrieved September 15, 2020.