The word of the day is palter:

To shift, equivocate, or prevaricate in action or speech; to act or deal evasively, esp. for treacherous ends; to use trickery. (OED)

"If anything, untruth is not dodged here but brought to the fore, as the men meet a teen-age runaway, Irena (Saoirse Ronan), who keeps changing her story, in a bid to earn their help...  From all this paltering rises the suspicion that 'The Way Back', like so many heroic accounts, may be gilded with a touch of the tall tale."

 - Anthony Lane, "Miles to Go: 'The Way Back' and 'Biutiful'", 31 January 2011 The New Yorker