AllMovie

CBS's scheduled resolution of a Murphy Brown cliffhanger (is she pregnant or not?) cut a vital portion of the audience for Living A Lie upon its initial September 1991 telecast. Those who did tune into this TV movie were in for a well-intentioned if preachy anti-prejudice piece. The scene is a rural Southwestern community, where Jill Eikenberry has been happily married to Peter Coyote for years. An Hispanic family moves into the area, and is promptly subjected to violence. The principal suspect is Coyote--who is, as Eikenberry discovers for the first time, a fire-breathing bigot. As the body of evidence increases, she finds it difficult to stand by her husband, as the community expects her to. Ultimately her conscience wins out over misguided matrimonial loyalty.