But all is not well in 1989. East Germany is slowly crumbling and protests, and the resulting police crackdowns, shake her faith and the mother collapses. She's in a coma for four months. She misses the fall of the Berlin Wall, the rapid transition from communism to capitalism and the hordes of East and West Germans re-uniting.

When she does wake up, her son Alex is told that if she suffers another shock she may well relapse into the coma and die. Alex realizes that learning that her beloved state has collapsed like rotten wood, would probably be a major shock.

So he decides to fake it. With the help of friends he puts on that nothing has changed and that East Germany is still alive and well.

But as time goes on he must go farther and farther to keep her in the dark, even creating false TV newscasts. Soon everyone starts wondering how long can this go on? And should he come clean even if the truth could cause her death?

This dramatic setup works well in it's own right, but the film has several threads going through it that make it well worth seeing. It is a coming-of-age story for Alex as he deals with the responsibilities and realities of his life. The film is also a commentary on how Germany reconciled back into one country. We see the propaganda that the East was showered with and the tough economic conditions (such as year-long waits for telephone installation and 3-year waits for cars), but we also see the strains of the West with rampant commercialism and a feeling that the West looks down on the East.

While this sounds like a lot of themes in the movie it moves quickly through the story. A few parts are touched on only lightly, the film is both enjoyable and makes you think. Goodbye Lenin! is well worth seeing [in theaters] at full price.