Truth Be Told Parent Guide

Giving advice is often easier to do than taking it yourself. At least that’s what Annie Morgan (Candace Cameron Bure)discovers in this made-for-TV movie airing April 16. The single woman is a marriage and family counselor who advocates the importance of honesty in relationships. And despite her lack of personal experience with matrimony or parenting, she is well respected by her patients.

Then one night at a fundraising event, Annie runs into an old college acquaintance she used to tutor. Recently widowed and raising two teens, Mark Crane (David James Elliott) is hoping to score cash for his afterschool sports program. During the evening, the event photographer asks Annie, Mark and his two children Kenny (Chris Brochu) and Zoe (Emma Gould) to pose for a picture. Financier Alexander Bishop (Ronny Cox) sees the group and mistakes them for a family.

Later he invites Annie to spend the weekend with he and his wife at their New Mexico ranch where he wants to discuss a new career opportunity with the counselor. He also wants her to bring her family. Going against everything she tells her clients, Annie convinces Mark to play along with the deception, at least until she can get a minute alone with the businessman to explain the facts.

As to be expected, that moment doesn’t come as soon as expected and Mark and Annie carry on with the charade for the entire weekend. But before their bags are packed for the trip home, the truth comes out.

In this era of Internet access, it’s hard to believe Bishop wouldn’t have done a little background check on Annie before proposing the kind of business venture he has in mind. Still that’s a minor plot hole. What is more important are the consequences that result from seemingly benign fibs. While Annie and Mark both have good reasons for the pretense, their example to the Kenny and Zoe is reason enough to reconsider their lie.

On the positive side, the film has little content for parents to worry about other than a brief discussion about wild animals attacking cattle and some bullets fired into the air. Yet this made-for-television movie will give moms and dads a good opportunity to talk about the dangers of falsehoods and even exaggerations.

About author

Kerry Bennett

Kerry Bennett is interested in media from both a journalist and parent perspective. Along with authoring articles for several family-oriented publications, she has written for Parent Previews for over 15 years. As a parent herself, she believes parents play a powerful role in teaching media literacy in their homes.