FeistyUpper
If you don't like this, we can't be friends.
Listonixio
Fresh and Exciting
Adeel Hail
Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.
MartinHafer
In 1958, Hollywood made Graham Greene's novel, "The Quiet American", into a movie. However, despite the title, the film had very, very little to do with Greene's book. His original story was about a CIA operative who came to French Indochina and naively thought that if the US backed a third force, one neither aligned with the Colonials or the Communists, then they could achieve peace and stability in the country. Greene's story is about his prediction that ultimately such a plan was doomed but instead of directly saying that, the story ultimately involved the operative, a British correspondent and a Vietnamese woman who both men loved. In the 1958 film, almost NONE of this was present and the message was completely reversed...that Vietnam NEEDED American involvement! The story was so changed and so corrupted that the film ended up being a total mess...and I hated it.Now with this 2002 version, Greene's original theme has been restored and the film is essentially the Greene story. Sure a few minor changes were made (such as the ending) but the overall story is something Greene would probably approve of if he was alive to see the picture.Instead of explaining the novel or the 2002 film, I'd like to concentrate on what I liked about the movie. Of course I appreciate that it is the original story. But I also really liked the acting, direction and music--all really looked good and make for a darned good tale. Overall, well worth seeing and despite Michael Caine being a bit too old for his part, a very good film.
jlthornb51
Director Philip Noyce brings Graham Greene's novel to the screen with exquisite style and demanding substance. The depth and power of Greene's work is preserved and dramatized with amazing skill. With that being said, there is one element of this film that is absolutely amazing and that is Michael Caine's portrait of Fowler. Giving another extraordinary performance of unforgettable power, Caine not only brings Fowler to life but inhabits Graham Greene himself. The supporting cast is certainly able but it is that single performance by Caine that will leave you breathless and completely in wonder of this great actor's gifts. His portrayal leaves you overwhelmed by the character's complexity and inner turmoil. What you witness in all Caine accomplishes here will haunt forever anyone who appreciates the finest of acting.
jc-osms
A fine adaptation of the Graham Greene novel I read several years ago, "The Quiet American" gradually and tellingly unfurls its twin stories of early anti-Communist American intervention in Vietnam and a triangular love story between Michael Caine's cynical middle-aged English Times reporter, Brendan Fraser as the young, good-looking quiet- spoken American aid worker and Do Thi Hai Yen as Caine's native mistress.The story is told from Caine's character's viewpoint, he the jaded "Our Man In Vietnam", happily separated from his British wife by his job and whose easy existence sees him require to wire in only a few stories a year while keeping his young and beautiful ex-courtesan Phuong as his obedient and uncomplaining lover only for his world to fall apart the minute Fraser enters the scene. Meanwhile, a renegade general attempts to violently carve out a third force in the country and these two strands come together with telling implications for the three main characters.The stories draw the viewer in completely although the inevitability of the ending is signalled with the murder in the opening minutes triggering a long flashback leading back up to the bloody climax. Caine is very good as the jilted writer gone-to-seed but who has found a reason for living in his can't-believe-his-luck liaison with the beautiful Phuong. Brendan Fraser is surprisingly good as the title character torn between his duty to his country, his love for Phuong and his regard for Caine. Thai Yen as Phuong imparts a calm stillness and indeed stoicism, content it seems to use her looks to her best advantage to find a love that will take her out of the bordello run by her protective older sister and convinces the viewer of her capacity to make two very different men love her to distraction.This well-crafted movie tellingly embodies Greene's identifiable themes of guilt, betrayal and honour, with its central characters all trying to escape their trapped existences but who find themselves moved by great events and petty jealousies. Atmospherically filmed and strongly acted, it is one of the superior adaptations of a Greene novel you could hope to see.
Tim Kidner
I've decided to say very little about this movie, except that it's one of quiet quality - the story, the screenplay, the acting by all and the location work.Like its title, it does not and indeed doesn't need to shout out about its many fine qualities. The story is universal, 'old school' - in that there is actually one to be told and is portrayed in an intelligent manner by director Philip Noyce. Michael Caine's performance remains one his very best - subtle, vulnerable but still commanding and Brendan Fraser, so often type-casted into comedy and action 'matinee' style blockbusters that we are slightly surprised that he rises to this occasion nicely.For a film to teach us about human behaviour, history during a contentious and difficult time for many (Vietnam, of course) but not feel the need to ram actual war down our throats is refreshing. It might not be considered a classic, but good it is and should be on a to-see list if a quality intelligent drama and one that doesn't require endless to-ing and fro-ing and getting lost in over-elaborate plot-lines. Fans of Michael Caine should actually own it, as those who follow the excellent Grahame Greene and his cinematic adaptations.
