The Beautiful Country
Metascore
64 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 23
  3. Negative: 1 out of 23
view
per page
  1. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    80
    The film achieves its power through a careful gathering of crucial details, in wordless glances, cruelties of nature and of man and the relentless determination to gain the promised land.
  2. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    80
    Versatile, highly skilled Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland's poignant drama examines the lingering effects of U.S. intervention in Southeast Asia.
  3. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Bill Gallo
    80
    Generous in spirit and fearlessly observant, this tale of an outcast Vietnamese man's journey to freedom deserves a place of honor among the great films portraying emigrant tenacity.
  4. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    80
    It is a straightforward, conventional narrative, charting seemingly endless cruelty and hardship, but rewards the patient with an eloquent climactic sequence that is impossible to predict.
  5. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    80
    The script, by newcomer Sabina Murray, is occasionally cloying as the naive hero falls for a bitter prostitute (Bai Ling), but its epic tale of two cultures tragically entwined is anchored by deep and elemental emotions.
  6. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    75
    In the end, it's a heartening, rewarding experience to watch this journey--and, especially, its end.
  7. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    75
    The movie grows steadily more arresting as it goes on and saves its best parts for last.
  8. San Francisco Examiner
    Reviewed by: Walter Addiego
    75
    Quiet, moving and beautifully shot.
  9. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    75
    The Beautiful Country might be too slow-moving for some, but it has powerful performances and a multi-layered quality. It is an epic journey worth taking.
  10. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    75
    The filmmakers bank against their impulse toward melodrama and deliver a reconciliation that is heartbreakingly understated.
  11. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    75
    The Beautiful Country is not a happy film by any means, but it does offer a fragile hope, that beauty exists at the end of every journey, if only one has the strength to finish the trip.
  12. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    75
    Inside the Norwegian director's glove of empathy is a fist of unappeasable anger.
  13. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: M. E. Russell
    75
    One of those hard-to-pin-down movies where you're not quite sure which sort of story the filmmakers wanted to tell.
  14. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    70
    It is hard not to admire the independence and ambition of The Beautiful Country, even if the film does fall short of its epic intentions.
  15. Variety
    Reviewed by: Derek Elley
    70
    Standout performance is by Nolte who, in the final 20 minutes, draws on a deep reservoir of playing broken romantic heroes to portray Binh's father. The subtle, resonant scenes between the two men are worth the price of admission.
  16. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jami Bernard
    63
    Bai Ling plays a resourceful prostitute from a Malaysian refugee camp who grows harder and more alienated by the day. Nick Nolte, Tim Roth and Temuera Morrison offer strong supporting performances.
  17. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    63
    Loses itself in melodrama, caricature and narrative missteps.
  18. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Jason Anderson
    63
    With its visual splendour, The Beautiful Country is indeed lovely to behold, but its story of human misery and survival doesn't always benefit from the painstaking art direction, picturesque vistas and surges of dramatic music.
  19. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Tasha Robinson
    60
    A gorgeous film, framed with an eye that makes every country seem beautiful in one way or another. It's probably fitting that the human element seems fragile and flat by comparison, but the contrast leaves Beautiful Country fairly bland.
  20. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Bill White
    58
    The Beautiful Country has an epic bearing, but a trite and troubled script makes it more a visual tirade than an engaging odyssey.
  21. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    50
    The subject is compelling but the story is very, very slow.
  22. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    50
    Provides a panorama without insight.
  23. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    30
    Feels like a manufactured Asian "Chocolat," which drives the label 'art house movie' even further into mainstream banality.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.4 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 11 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 1 out of 7
  1. Robert
    7
    Lovely, surprising film that carries emotional weight through a young man's wide-ranging search for his father. underrated by many, worth watching.… Full Review »
  2. Bob
    10
    Within 5 minutes you could tell this was not an American made movie - too subtle and too intelligent for the mass audiences. I was surprised to find it was of Norwegian origin, though.… Full Review »
  3. RayS.
    10
    The cadence of the film is deliberately slow, but it works to draw the viewer into the story, and to the ending, which is poignant and understated--and rings true emotionally.… Full Review »
See all user reviews »