Saigon Baby (1995) starring Kerry Fox, Douglas Hodge, John Hurt directed by David Attwood Movie Review

Saigon Baby (1995)   2/52/52/52/52/5

Certificate

N/A

Length

91 mins

Genre

Director


Kerry Fox in Saigon Baby (1995)

Hurt's Baby Broker

Kate Cooper (Kerry Fox) and her husband Michael (Douglas Hodge) are desperate to adopt a baby but because they spend a lot of time in Asia for work they can't adopt in the UK. Their desperation almost sees them arrested by Thai officials when they try to buy one and they end up having to go the black market root by negotiating with ex-pat Jack Lee (John Hurt). But their first deal turns bad when they get to the airport and discover they have no way of flying the child out of the country leading Kate to do something even more dangerous with a journey in to Vietnam with Jack Lee to buy a baby and smuggle it back to the UK.

I don't know what I expected from "Saigon Baby", I had read a brief synopsis which said it was about a British couple trying to adopt in Asia but that was all I knew before watching it. And that is what I got a drama about this British couple who are desperate to adopt a child and in the case of the woman willing to go to any length to achieve it even if that means going behind her husband's back. The trouble is that there isn't that much to this, some bone but not a lot of meat on it.

John Hurt in Saigon Baby (1995)

In truth the biggest issue I have with "Saigon Baby" is that Kate and Michael are so desperate for a child they haven't bothered to look into things properly. For example here they are taken to a back alley to adopt a baby but they haven't done their research when it comes to getting the baby out of the country and more unbelievably Jack doesn't warn them of the issue up front. It makes them out to be totally unprepared and foolish for being so. This all builds to Kate facing a decision over adopting a baby and taking it home would be the right thing to do but the trouble is that it hasn't been a riveting way to get there.

About the only riveting thing in "Saigon Baby" is the performance of John Hurt who inhabits his character the laid back wheeler dealer with a certain sexuality which makes you wonder whether Kate will succumb to him when they sneak off to get a baby. Unfortunately Kerry Fox does little too get you gripped by her character and seems to be playing her too tense from start to finish.

What this all boils down to is that "Saigon Baby" is not the most gripping of movies and if it wasn't for an entertaining performance from John Hurt it would come up well short of the mark.


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