Review: The Beautiful Country (** 1/2)

THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes



RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2



THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY is a beautiful movie, lovingly crafted, perhaps too
much so by Hans Petter Moland. Never in any hurry whatsoever, the movie
relates a long and episodic tale about Binh, a young Vietnamese man who
makes a difficult journey to find his G.I. father in Houston. The story,
set in 1990, follows Binh's struggles. Since he doesn't have the money or
connections to get into the U.S. legally, Binh goes from one perilous
situation to another, as he tries to sneak his way out of Vietnam and into
America. One of the most obvious problems with the movie is that Damien
Nguyen, who gives a hauntingly beautiful performance as Binh, speaks English
with a nearly perfect American accent.



First Binh goes to locate his mother, whom he had lost track of, in Vietnam.
Although the loud speakers proclaim the advancement of Ho Chi Minh's version
of communism, Binh finds his mother working as an abused servant for a
wealthy family that is a hellacious version of "Upstairs Downstairs." From
there Binh goes on to spend time in a Malaysian prison. Next he suffers the
indignities of being transported in a slave ship run by an evil captain (Tim
Roth). Once in New York, he works off the price of his transportation in an
immigrant sweatshop. Finally, in the last section of the film, the story is
all too neatly wrapped up when Binh finally tracks down his father (Nick
Nolte), who abandoned Binh and his mother decades before. What could be the
explanation for his father's dereliction of his family duties? The answer
provided is just too convenient.



THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY runs a long 2:05. The film is in English and in
Vietnamese with English subtitles. It is rated R for "some language and a
crude sexual reference" and would be acceptable for kids around 12 and up.



The film is playing in nationwide release now in the United States. In the
Silicon Valley, it is showing at the Camera Cinemas.



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