Get rid of Arquette and this might have been a real movie.
Beyond Rangoon (1995)
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Reviews Counted:29
Fresh:11
Rotten:18
Average Rating:5.2/10
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Synopsis: Director John Boorman's film, inspired by the crackdown of the Burmese military during the late 1980s, stars Patricia Arquette as Laura Bowman, an American doctor. After the violent death of her... Director John Boorman's film, inspired by the crackdown of the Burmese military during the late 1980s, stars Patricia Arquette as Laura Bowman, an American doctor. After the violent death of her husband and child, Laura joins her sister, Andy (Frances McDormand), on a tour of Southeast Asia, hoping that a trip might be therapeutic. While the sisters are in Burma, the demonstrations of political dissidents become violent, and although her sister is able to depart, Laura must stay behind, having lost her passport. After seeking help at the American embassy, she encounters a former college professor, now a dissident supporter, who asks her to help him in eluding the police, an action that she knows will place her in jeopardy. In return, he offers to lead her out of the country across the Thai border. At a train station, he introduces her to a group of rebel students, one of whom is killed when government troops open fire on the crowd. Laura, whose aversion to blood has led her to contemplate leaving her profession, overcomes her problem when her teacher himself is shot and only she can save him. The well-acted film features impressive nature photography by John Seale. [More]
Starring: Patricia Arquette, Adele Lutz, Frances McDormand, Spalding Gray
Starring: Patricia Arquette, Adele Lutz, Frances McDormand, Spalding Gray
Director: John Boorman
Director: John Boorman
Reviews for Beyond Rangoon
Seems less about the horror suffered by the Burmese than the inconvenience suffered by an American tourist who has lost her passport.
Absolutely typical of the way Hollywood can take a compelling story, full of genuine characters and heartfelt emotion, then hack it to tiny bits and put it back together, Frankenstein-like, into a sappy, overwrought drama.
Boorman's metaphysical musings might work if he integrated them more fully into his film, instead of making them secondary to action sequences.
Besides being an intelligent and gripping thriller with a solid grounding in real, recent historical events, Beyond Rangoon also gives movie-goers a rare opportunity to watch a female hero.
It's fascinating and rewarding to watch [Arquette] evolve, with much credibility, from her own personal state of immaturity to a state of full growth.
Arquette's central character makes several rather stupid decisions along the way, but the drama of the political events unfolding around her compensates for it.
Because the film is well acted and directed, and the Malaysian locations are exotic and seductive, I got involved even though the story ... was so clearly concocted.
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