At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Enlightening, heartbreaking, inspiring: don't miss this film. As an American it opened my eyes to our selfishness, our material world, and how it clashes with other cultures. It made me question why some people are born into privilege, while others suffer unimaginable atrocities in their lives. It made me appreciate how damn lucky I am. The tale of survival of these boys is a direct view into a harsh reality that continues today - one that most Americans are oblivious of, one that deserves attention and action. I absolutely fell in love with these Sudanese boys. Their love, their humor, their culture - it was all fascinating. If only people in our country would show the solidarity that these brothers have for each other - what a wonderful world it would be. I'm showing this film to my high school class of students who are learning English as a Second Language (among them I have some Africans, but not from the Sudan). It is going to provide a lot of food for thought!

God grew tired of us is a line used by one of the lost boys of the Sudan, as he describes the horrible conditions of his homeland. Thousands of refugees traveled by foot over one thousand miles to escape the killing by tribes from the north. It begins at a camp where the boys are surviving, while a lucky few are chosen to fly to America for new lives. The young men are shown in Syracuse, New York and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and culture shock is an understatement as the Africans are introduced to electric lights and refrigerators and modern plumbing. The men do adapt, and even as they struggle to survive, working two and three jobs while attending college, they are a triumph of the human spirit. This is a magnificent film with people who make you stand up and cheer. A solid 9/10.

In the 1950s, Britain abandons what was to be their last colonization, which left a split of Muslim and Christian faiths behind. A Muslim and Christian feud ignites, later causing a Civil War. The Sudanese Civil War began in the mid 80s, 1985 to be more precise. The Sudanese people were forced to leave the home they had loved for many generations. The living and some wounded bodies went north to Ethiopia during and after the Civil War.The journey for these people was long and treacherous, many of them died along the thousand mile trek. The news media, following the story in the late 1980s, dubbed the men and boys, "The Lost Boys," for they were without a country or a home. The group of Sudanese refugees stayed in Ethiopia until the government crumbled in 1991. Again, the "Lost Boys" had to make a decision, where to go next.This time, they would head back south through war ravaged country, when they finally ended up in Kenya. They were refugees according to many people, and the United Nations decided to step in and help the "Lost Boys." Beginning around the end of the twentieth century, many "Lost Boys" were being relocated to the states, New York, Pennsylvania, and some as far west as Arizona.This is when the "Lost Boys" grew up, and they became men. Learning to be more Americanized and civilized was harder for some of them than for others. The transition from a homeland culture to an adopted culture is sometimes traumatic, as seen in some of these men, one in particular that could not handle the pressure, ended up in a psychiatric ward. Some would say that the tax money is squandered on the likes of people like this, but I say, "Even if we only help one of them succeed, we are doing our job." If ethics is the study of right and wrong, were we right or wrong to change these people's complete existence on Earth? Or should that be in the hands of God? Maybe it is in the hands of God, and he is working through good people to make his will better for everyone on Earth. If to look at some of these men today, they are more successful and free than they could have ever have been before because of what they went through.Each of them personally struggled, leaving their families and life behind while they came to America to make things better for themselves. As many of them stated, they wanted to bring happiness and freedom to their families. They even sent money to their families back in Africa, but only some of what they sent made it. Did someone steal from these honest, hardworking men? They were unsuspecting and innocents."Life, liberty and the Pursuit of happiness" is guaranteed to all men and women residing in the United States. Why not to the rest of the world? As can be seen in this film, some of the people of Sudan wanted freedom. The entire world should want freedom, but maybe I am making an assumption. No one can truly want freedom until they have had a taste of what is like to be free.

This is a documentary that is of a rare type, yet one that i wish there was more of. It is rare because it is real. There isn't a script, no plot. The camera follows the characters and not the other way around.This movie is about a group of Sudanese refugees granted asylum into the USA after wandering around Africa for years having been displaced by the wars in the 1990s that affected Sudan.I am sure some will say that we have all seen this before.. people in dire situations, starving people, famine.. Yes we have, but what we haven't seen enough about is how these people, the few given a chance at a normal life deal with the adjustment and their new home.This is a movie about Sudanese refugees yet it unmistakably makes you wonder about yourself and your own country. Through their eyes we are given a different perspective about us, perhaps a perspective that we so cannot see from our own point of view. The movie highlights the undeniable workaholic and isolationist American culture that is remotely not as welcoming as we would all like to claim. As the movie progresses we see their lives change, them trying to fit in, struggling with social norms (put your thinking caps on for this part of the movie) and generally trying to make it in the big capitalist state that we are. It isn't easy, but is it worth it? What these people have to give up makes you think of what we have given up and not even realize it or deem it important, yet for someone who comes from a different culture, the fragmented society is not a culture shock, it's lack of culture.It doesn't matter if one agrees with their views on our weird lifestyle. What matters is that this is a beautiful documentary about struggle, both in the old life and the new. It is amazing to me, yet not foreign, how they are eventually forced to drop out of school and work menial jobs to make ends meet and try to help any people back home they can. Then comes the realization that a man can only do so much..As time goes we see them make changes (generally improve) to their lives, get involved with activities, mend with the local culture. As we see the changes taking place it is hard not to understand the people and that is one of the high points of this movie. The information isn't forced to you but you warm up to is by listening what the boys have to say about their experiences and their lives.A highly recommended real life documentary that is worth checking out, particularly if you like something different. There are also a few lines (can't miss them) that will make you chuckle because they are the same things that every American says often.