Following the fall of Saigon (1975), boat people arrived by the thousands on the shores of, among other places, Turtle Beach in Malaysia. "Turtle Beach" attempts to tell that story while weaving in side plots having to do with a Vietnamese woman (Chen) who married money and throws it at the problem while trying to reunite with her children and an Aussie reporter (Sacchi) who wants to do a story about the boat people which the Malaysian government wants to suppress. The film plays out mechanically with two dimensional characters and clumsy attempts to spice it up with a dash of romance and sex. A mediocre (docu)drama only for the hard up couch potato.
Note - The Malay Vietnamese boat people colonized Bidong Island not far from Tioman Island (until 1991), filming location for "South Pacific". "Turtle Beach" was not filmed in Malaysia.
Note - The Malay Vietnamese boat people colonized Bidong Island not far from Tioman Island (until 1991), filming location for "South Pacific". "Turtle Beach" was not filmed in Malaysia.