While the resentment is easy to understand of outsiders coming in and threatening to dominate the industry of shrimping, the way in which members of this Texas community do it is vile in retrospect. The end of the Vietnam war lead to much bitterness for returning veterans as well as Vietnamese refugees hoping to find a new life in the United States. The good here is represented by the enthusiastic Ho Nguyen, a young immigrant so happy to be an American that it's not easy to resent him, yet war veteran Ed Harris does, representing the bad. How much of this story is accurate is debatable, but it certainly represents a trend of certain communities to commit the sin of inhospitality, the reason that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah fell.
If you think Harris is angry by just the presence of the Vietnamese, just wait until his fishing boat is foreclosed on and ex-girlfriend Amy Madigan befriends Nguyen. Her ailing father (Donald Moffat) tells her to stand up for what she believes, but that isn't strong enough to face the violence that Harris and his good old boys intend to start, through the evils of the Klu Klux Klan. Nguyen and the Vietnamese community also find racism through a really nasty grocery store clerk, although Nguyen's friendliness does seem to have a favorable impact on the grocery store manager.
This is a sometimes difficult film to watch (as all films about undeserved hatred are), but the performance is are strong, and even Harris has moments where you begin to feel sorry for his character. Nevertheless, he's a despicable villain, and there is no way he can get through this film without paying for his hatred. Phone number location where this allegedly happened, it is a strong reminder of the power of hate but how hate can be eliminated when the victims of hate stand up for their rights. Seeing the hard work of the Vietnamese and the unwelcoming nature of the americans, it makes you see who the real Americans are and who the real intruders happen to be.
If you think Harris is angry by just the presence of the Vietnamese, just wait until his fishing boat is foreclosed on and ex-girlfriend Amy Madigan befriends Nguyen. Her ailing father (Donald Moffat) tells her to stand up for what she believes, but that isn't strong enough to face the violence that Harris and his good old boys intend to start, through the evils of the Klu Klux Klan. Nguyen and the Vietnamese community also find racism through a really nasty grocery store clerk, although Nguyen's friendliness does seem to have a favorable impact on the grocery store manager.
This is a sometimes difficult film to watch (as all films about undeserved hatred are), but the performance is are strong, and even Harris has moments where you begin to feel sorry for his character. Nevertheless, he's a despicable villain, and there is no way he can get through this film without paying for his hatred. Phone number location where this allegedly happened, it is a strong reminder of the power of hate but how hate can be eliminated when the victims of hate stand up for their rights. Seeing the hard work of the Vietnamese and the unwelcoming nature of the americans, it makes you see who the real Americans are and who the real intruders happen to be.