Lack of good storyline.

Awesome Movie

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

I will admit that I do not have an advanced degree in Drama or have I performed on stage, Shakespearian or otherwise, but the criticism that Ms. McGraw received in some of these reviews sounds a bit much. Is there a "Let's Get Ali" Club out there? As far as her acting ability I do not find her as objectionable as some and, in fact, I like her. If that makes me something of an amateur in theatrics, well so be it! The critical remarks made against her go too far I think and border on gross insult. Frankly there are a numerous so-called actresses today who cannot act as far as I am concerned but I am not going on a tirade against them. I just don't watch them. Many people go "ga ga ga ga and ga" over Meryl Streep and frankly I would not pay a dime to see her perform. So therein lies the issue, some of us like certain actresses and others don't and vice versa! Besides, I miss the Lana Turners, Greer Garsons, Betty Davisis, Susan Haywards, Joan Crawfords, and other fine actresses from the 1940s, 50s and 60s!

She is such a terrible presence(can't call her an actor), no skills or talent at all, and she ruins any film she is in other than some early ones that traded off her Irish good looks when she was a gorgeous young girl. Forced, self-conscious, totally unnatural, no emotional range at all, and so in contrast to the great George C. Scott, she was a total embarrassment. And, her lame attempts to speak Chinese were out-loud laughable. I guess they got a famous name cheap here, as her declining looks were very evident. One upside.....her looks are fast getting closer to her "talent" and one day they will be the same, if she ever works again after this.The film story was about a rich American industrialist seeking his long lost idealistic son in China, and the confusing, conflicting and "inscrutable" things he went through to finally see what happened to him. McGraw was his paid, Chinese-speaking, American guide at first but lo and behold, this is Hollywood mind you, she became something else entirely by film's end, no matter how unlikely it all was.A mediocre film at best, as Scott could walk by and you would still know he is one of the greats, but McGraw ruined it for being anything more than a 2 hour diversion.

I thought "Any movie with George C. Scott has to have something on the ball...!" I was wrong.This is the only movie that has moved me enough to want to write a review for IMDb.There's not a single good performance in the movie. Scott's is best, clocking in at "not too bad" which is a gross disappointment for an actor of his caliber. Ali MacGraw is painful to watch. It goes downhill from there, one awkward scene with stilted dialog after another.Where was the director? Busy having lunch during the whole shooting? About the only positive reaction I have is the photography, giving a nice flavor of mainland China and Hong Kong.I am so glad I didn't actually pay money to watch this.

Besides the somewhat credible explanation of how his son "went bad," this was poor, even by TV movie standards. The relationship between Scott and McGraw is unbelievable and often embarrassing, the plot generally predictable, and except for a couple of flashes by Mr. Scott, the acting ranges from unremarkable to downright poor. There's no romantic chemistry between the two leads, the only apparent motivations for them getting romantically involved appears to be that they're the two leads and they're both widowed. Most of the plot "turns" are easily predictable, and the acting questionable enough to wonder whether everybody was supposed to be a bad liar, or the lines were just being delivered poorly. Probably the best that can be said for it was that it was only 88 minutes.