an epic story of hope constrain by budget and limited artistic ambition . see a terrence malick produce this and i expect something haunting and lyrical . instead and we get a typical norwegian co production ( revolution with al pacino and anyone . ) and where quite possibly good intention be scupper by a dreadful screenplay and and where many of the character be reduce to stereotype . the me tarzan you jane english dialogue between the non english speaking protagonist be particularly cringeworthy one could speculate whether nick nolte and tim roth ad libbed their own and a they almost sound like real people . the story be load with implausibility represent we be expect to believe that binh can speak a smattering of english after have spend his entire life living a a peasant slave ( his vocabulary and but unfortunately not grammatical command and increase impressively in the malayan refugee camp and without the benefit of night class ) . coincidence be rife while i wonder whether an hour or two have be edit from the first third represent he track down his mother in ho chi minh city almost immediately after bump into his thirty year younger half brother and who nonchalantly recognise him . mum give him a gold locket ( or something similar of great value ) a they part and but this be never refer to again . his relationship with me dead inside ling be suppose to provide the obligatory love interest and but feel as artificial a leonardo and cameron in gang of new york . the voyage in the rust bucket of a boat do convey a sense of the appalling condition that human traffic entail . indeed and the only time the film be remotely exciting and unpredictable and be the jerky and hand hold footage shot from the bridge during choppy weather condition . ( incidentally and a boat cruise from malaysia to new york via the cape of good hope and the african coast and without stop for fuel or supply and be certainly an epic journey ) . the beautiful shot of the new york skyline echo malick use of magic hour and but i want to know why the coast guard do not show up . perhaps they be watch the super bowl and or something . of course and binh manages to track down his blind old dad on a remote farm in texas and with the same navigational flair he display in ho chi minh city . i be impress at how nick nolte could wander around dig field and feed horse on a large ranch without the aid of a guide dog or white stick . for demonstration of how a story about the travail befall refugee could be structure and shoot on a small budget and check out michael winterbottom far superior in this world .