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.
Beyond Rangoon (1995)
Tomatometer
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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
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Reviews for Beyond Rangoon
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.
About an American doctor in Burma who discovers the wild woman inside as she squares off against incredible physical and mental challenges.
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.
As an exercise in art, or even polemics, Beyond Rangoon is beyond redemption, but still works its occasional magic with extraordinary flair.
Boorman's metaphysical musings might work if he integrated them more fully into his film, instead of making them secondary to action sequences.
Seems less about the horror suffered by the Burmese than the inconvenience suffered by an American tourist who has lost her passport.
This is a perennial favorite because of the scenery (it's set in Burma, shot in Malaysia), because of the strong heroine, and because of the mix of politics and adventure.
Do artists, and those who style themselves as artists, have the right to lie to further their visions?
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.
It's as if a civil war had been concocted just to take Laura (Patricia Arquette) outside of her not-unjustified misery.
Yet one more film -- that defines Third World political unrest through its effect on a white liberal.
In attempting to make its politics palatable as entertainment, the film has grafted them onto a boatload of Hollywood implausibilities whose excesses cripple believability.
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.
In place of the backstory on Laura Bowman we need to understand why this woman undertakes her dangerous odyssey, the script races forward with action sequences better suited to co-writer Alex Lasker's earlier Firefox.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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