The Quiet American (2002)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Michael Caine, who had previously won two Best Supporting Actor Oscars, was up for Best Actor for his role in The Quiet American. It was an incredibly steep year, with Jack Nicholson up for About Schmidt, Nicolas Cage for Adaptation, and Daniel Day-Lewis for Gangs of New York. I'll never forget the tears in Michael Caine's eyes when the one candidate who shouldn't have even been nominated was called to the podium: Adrien Brody for The Pianist.For that reason alone, you should rent The Quiet American. Michael Caine puts his whole heart in to the film, and as usual, he's the reason the film is at all memorable. It's a tense romance during wartime in 1950s Saigon. Michael Caine's mistress, the beautiful Do Thi Hai Yen, captures Brendan Fraser's eye when he comes to Vietnam. While much of the film is a love triangle—but who would really look twice at Brendan Fraser when they're with Michael Caine?—an equal portion of the film is a film about the events leading up to the Vietnam war. Director Phillip Noyce has created a beautiful modern classic, one that isn't grizzly or upsetting to watch. It flows seamlessly, with captivating cinematography to show Saigon as a romantic city, rather than a terrifying warzone. For some very good acting, as well an intensely dramatic story, rent this film for a special and memorable evening.

Trapped inside rheumy eyes, sagging jowls, and pot belly, Fowler (Caine) looks every inch the backwater journalist at the end of a not-very-distinguished rope. We understand his love-lorn desperation. Ditto his porcelain doll mistress, and her desperation to survive the shifting sands of colonial Vietnam. Alden Pyle (Fraser) too, looks every inch his OSS part, an idealistic frat-boy who took all the correct courses, saluted all the correct flags, and never learned a thing about the soul of subjugated peoples, at home or abroad. If these visuals are perfect, the lead performance is not. In short, Caine's Thomas Fowler has been wildly overpraised. In a part that cries out for civilized passion, he gives a lot of well-bred British civility, but very little passion. There are simply too many blank-eyed stares with not enough hint of the inner life that breeds conflicting emotions. Instead of interpreting the character, his scenes float on physical appearance and the richness of Greene's conception, a distinction too many folks have conflated. Thus the final act of betrayal, which should be the movie's payoff, is robbed of suspense and insight by a performance that fails to develop over time. I found myself wishing Bette Davis had directed his scenes.This is a good movie, but no unmitigated triumph. The Greenian complexities and ambiguities are mostly where they should be. However, unlike the novel's narrative, exposition here at times suffers from heavy-handed repetition as other reviewers have pointed out -- the overstated wet cement, for one. Nonetheless, there's enough depth to convey the basic brilliance of the book, which remains a powerful interweaving of personal and political treachery. (The reviewer who likens this novel to those of Henry James provides an ironical insight.)Too bad this second version was denied to viewers of the bowdlerized 1958 version. That way, the US might have been spared a bloody object lesson in the sort mass deception that now echoes across the shifting sands of Iraq.

Michael Caine may be one of the most imitable actors around today, but you can always rely on him to deliver a class performance. Here, as a newspaper foreign affairs reporter, he risks losing the love of his life to a flash Yank, and being forced to quit the country he loves due to budget cuts, and you can see his understated pain in every syllable. Who'd have thought Brendan Fraser could act so well too... as the titular character, he befriends Caine while stealing his girl right under his nose, at a time when women in Vietnam were valued about as much as cattle. ALWAYS beware of the Quiet ones...We then get an in-depth look at American international political agendas, as they seek to place the people THEY want in charge across the world... and they're prepared to go to any methods to achieve it. The particular attempt noted in this film was a disaster though, and lead to the Vietnam War. Oops. Though this is a fictitious tale, parts are rooted in reality... I'm sure. When will they learn to keep their noses out?! As for the rest, it's a well shot, thought-provoking drama with undertones of tragedy.... But for who? 6/10

So me and the husband watched this last night. The movie description made us think this would be more of a love story, which it kind of is, but it's more political statement than anything. It has gorgeous scenery and good actors. The only thing that really bothered us about this movie is that the music drowns out the dialogue and we kept asking each other "What did he say?". Michael Caine is always great and Brendan Frasier was actually pretty good, also. The scenes of them together made me a little uncomfortable, only because they are in such an awkward situation. My husband figured out the movie about halfway through and I was just enjoying it. Its worth watching for the scenery alone.