Rating: 
Summary: Be Still, My Foolish Heart
Review: Set against the war between the French and the Communists for control of Vietnam (French Indo-China) when America was just beginning to get involved, "The Quiet American," even with all the inherent political intrigue, is basically the story of a love triangle between British newspaperman Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine), American Health worker Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser) and a Vietnamese girl Phoung (Do Thi Hai Yen). It is a film that prefers to make love, not war: Love is the battlefield on which the fate of all three is decided.
There is much on which the eye can concentrate in this film: the gorgeous manner in which the film is shot looks remarkably like color films shot in the fifties with saturated color, slightly faded and the beauty of Saigon and it's restaurants and women. In the middle of all this strides Caine's Fowler a man who has seen it all both on and off the battlefield yet can still extend his heart and his love to Phoung with whom he is living. Fraser's Pyle is a newcomer: he is everything that Fowler was 30 years before; young, brash, hopeful. He falls in love with Phoung as well.
How all of this is resolved is done in a rather perfunctory, though proficient manner. The performances on the other hand are the highlight of this film. Michael Caine, carrying the burden of his 100+ films and the world-weariness of Fowler on his faces vibrates here with intelligence and horse sense, but also a genuine sensuality; an awareness and appreciation of his attraction for Phuong. Brendan Fraser plays Pyle in his usual stalwart manner but he is very effective nonetheless. And Do Thi Hai Yen does very well with the femme fatale role: she's beautiful and mysterious and genuine in her feelings for both men.
"The Quiet American" recalls an era long gone. One in which the world seemed united against the "Red Horde." But this film shows that despite the guns, uniforms, and ideologies, these were real people: looking, finding, losing and regaining love and romance despite the odds against it. It's the force of a heart that can never be stilled.
Rating: 
Summary: A Superb Film & A Gripping Performance By Michael Caine!
Review: Rarely does a novel translate well into a screen production. "The Quiet American" proves to be the exception to the rule. Philip Noyce and his team have brilliantly adapted Graham Greene's historical novel about Vietnam, during the waning days of French colonialism and the beginning of American intervention, into a powerful film. The book was published in 1955 and foreshadowed America's war in Vietnam. Kudos go to Michael Caine, who certainly deserves an Oscar for his spectacular performance.The movie is set in Saigon during 1952. Thomas Fowler, (Michael Caine), a cynical, veteran correspondent for The London Times is our narrator. Fowler has "gone native." He has fallen in love with Vietnam and with Phoung, a one-time bar hostess who is young enough to be his daughter. Enter Alden Pyle, (Brendan Fraser), a seemingly innocuous, somewhat bumbling American who supposedly works for the US Economic Aid Mission, specializing in eye diseases. The two men meet and become friends until Pyle intrudes on Fowler's love affair. Tension builds as this triangle becomes more intense, and as the war between the French and the Communists is joined by a third party, a Vietnamese general, backed by the Americans. Fowler, who has long remained indifferent to the conflict is finally forced to take sides. Pyle is drastically transformed from a "quiet" American to a skilled CIA operator, willing to condone the deaths of innocents for long term political interests. This is an intensely passionate film. The love both Fowler and Pyle feel for Phuong, (played by the incredibly lovely Do Thi Hai Yen) transforms both men. In one scene, when Fowler realizes his potential loss, he says, "The fear of losing Phoung is more terrifying than any bullet. If I lose her, it would be the beginning of death." And it is a film passionate about the war being fought on the streets of Saigon and in the villages. Director Noyce is able to portray the conflict in simple enough terms without taking a strong political stance. This film is anti-war not anti-American. Graham Greene's haunting and elegant narrative comes to life here. The photography eloquently captures the steamy beauty of Saigon, the glorious tropical countryside, the serenity of Phoung's face in close-up, the chaos of a bomb-torn street and the horror of a village massacre. One of the best films I have seen in a long time. Highly recommended!
JANA
Rating:
Summary: could have been 6 stars
Review: By far the best movie I have seen recently. I do not believe the producers understood Pyle. In the film e pretends to be innocent (pssibly cia training?) but in the book he is innocent. It is Isabel Archer vs Gilbert Osmond turned inside out. The book is not a polemic it is literature and the figure of Henry James lurks behind it. Green's essays on James are splendid and he understands what it means to "affront a destiny" The filmakers have made a splendid film. Greene wanted to protest American involvement in Vietnam but he wished to write literature and take up tat theme of America vs Europe which James explored so masterfully. And so Fowler does not make the kind of choice the producrs would have it--thre is something corrupt in him. Neither is Pyle a masquerade--he is an innocent like Strether who misunderstands Mmn de Vionnet in The Ambassadors--only Strether is benign. Greeene departs from James by fearing innocence. Greene turns the trope of innocents abroad around. Pyle was no characiture in the book but another and malignant Jamesian possibility.
This having been said The Quiet American is the finest movie I have seen i a long time.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad story, and racist
Review: This is a rather boring story, although the cinematography and fireworks are kinda neat. Not sure where it was shot but some of the scenries are pretty beautiful. My biggest problem with this movie is it's rather racist: a (...) Southeast Asian woman who loves intercourse with a white man 4x her age, and Asian men depicted as ignorant and brutal. (...)
Rating:
Summary: a good movie, but not a great one.
Review: A Film by Philip Noyce Director Philip Noyce had a very good year. Both The Quiet American and Rabbit-Proof Fence were critical successes (though neither made a ton of money), and they both rank among the best movies of 2002. The Quiet American is based on a novel by Graham Greene. Michael Caine was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. The movie is set in 1952 Vietnam. Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine) is a British reporter for the London Times living and working in Vietnam. Thomas is comfortable living his life, and living with a Vietnamese woman named Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen). At the beginning of the movie Thomas is brought in to identify a dead body. He recognizes the body and says that the man was a friend. The dead man is Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser). Pyle is an American aid worker (Fowler calls him a quiet American). Much of the rest of the movie is flashback of Fowler remembering Pyle. Pyle is an earnest younger man. He believes that communism needs to be rolled back and eliminated from Vietnam. Pyle is very idealistic and believes that the French will not be able to bring freedom and democracy to Vietnam, and that America must be the country to do so. Fowler is skeptical and somewhat jaded in his view of Vietnam and the world. Despite their differences, the two men become friends. The Quiet American is the clash of two cultures (new world America vs old world Vietnam, or Colonialistic England vs the colony), and it is also a story about two men in love with the same woman. Shortly after Pyle meets Fowler, he also meets Fowler's girlfriend, Phuong. They are introduced and they dance (they are at a club). Pyle falls for Phuong and this sets up the main conflict between Pyle and Fowler: Phuong. Despite the fact that Fowler knows that Pyle desires Phuong, and that their political ideologies are so different, they remain friends. The movie explores the relationship between Pyle, Fowler, and Phuong, and uses this relationship as a metaphor for the interactions of America, England, and Vietnam. It is effective, if you stop and think about it after the movie ends. The Quiet American is a slow moving movie, and I don't think it is quite as powerful or effective as Noyce's Rabbit-Proof Fence. Michael Caine does an excellent job and was deservedly nominated for an Oscar. Brendan Fraser also does a good job in the movie and reminds me that he can be a very good actor when given the opportunity. This is one of the better movies of the year, but will not make my top ten list.
Rating:
Summary: LOVE AND WAR IN INDOCHINA
Review: THE QUIET AMERICAN is a successful and intriguing adaptation of Graham Greene's classic novel. In 1952 a veteran British journalist (Michael Caine) is stationed in Saigon to cover the events of the French Indochina War. Caine meets a young idealistic American doctor (Brendan Fraser) at an outdoor cafe and they soon become friends. But soon enough their friendship becomes complicated when Fraser becomes attracted to Caine's girlfriend (Do Thi Hai Yen) who is a beautiful Vietnamese woman. What follows is an often suspenseful film that addresses the battle of French colonialism against the Communist advance from the north and the role of a third party to defeat the two former enemies. Caught in the middle is Caine, Fraser and the woman that they both love as they navigate the dramatic changes which are occurring in Vietnam each day. Caine discover that people are not who they claim to be. One of the most stunning aspects of THE QUIET AMERICAN is the cinematography by Christopher Doyle which captures the beautiful green and lush Vietnamese countryside filled with mountains and lakes and rivers. I have to admit that prior to deeing this film I was not a big fan of Michael Caine, but his performance is admirable and convincing. I now understand why he was nominated for an Oscar -- and I believe he is a strong contender. THE QUIET AMERICAN is one of the best films I have seen in some time.
Rating:
Summary: Boring and Inept Storytelling
Review: "The Quiet American" is one of the worst films I've seen in quite some time. There are so many things wrong with this movie, it's hard to know where to start. The only conceivable explanations for some of the positive reviews of this awful film are the notions that (a) any film about Vietnam must be good, or (b) any film starring Michael Caine must be good. Believe me, if you suffer from either of these misconceptions, this film will provide the cure. Brendan Fraser is simply awful in this film. We have no reason to see how, why and when he fell madly in love with Caine's mistress, to whom he proposes marriage in front of Caine in Caine's apartment literally one scene after just meeting her with Caine. The romance is nonexistent, and his actions are literally implausible. Worse yet, Fraser is remarkably chatty the entire film -- when he's supposed to be "the quiet American." It would have been best had he remained quiet, for every line of dialogue was tortured and contrived. Next, we have Caine's character -- a lecherous old man cheating on his wife with a desperate Vienamese girl with limited choices in life. He does not love her -- he possesses her. It is a dirty relationship, made all the more dirty by his lies, and his breathtaking lack of consideration for his own wife. We are supposed to be rooting for his divorce to go through so he can make his possession of this plaything a legal right. Oh, he is also an opium smoker. This, ladies and gentlemen, is your protagonist. And our great hope is that he will stay in Indochina, at the risk of losing his job with the London Times, so he can take up space and become a burden to his plaything -- who will now have no hope of escaping her wartorn country. He is a selfish, lecherous character who plots Fraser's murder. Again, this is your protagonist. This film is also extraordinarily boring. It moves at the pace of a cargo ship up the Mekong. With the amount of time it takes to build a plot, you would think that you would get a more coherent result. Think again. In short, this film is simply awful. If you like slow-moving, amoral films with no sympathetic characters, inconceivable plot lines, and lightweight political posturing, this is the film for you. Otherwise, don't waste precious minutes of your life on this thoroughly inane movie.
Rating:
Summary: The seduction of American innocence
Review: Of all the films I've seen over the years concerning America's involvement in Vietnam, THE QUIET AMERICAN is perhaps the most seductive. It's 1952, and Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine) is the aging correspondent for the London Times in Saigon. France is in the process of being tossed out of Indochina, but the former doesn't realize it yet - Dien Bien Phu is still in the future - and its military fights on ineffectually against the communists. In the meantime, Fowler submits the occasional story to the head office while finding comfort in the arms of opium and his Vietnamese mistress Phuong (Do Hai Yen), a former taxi dancer at a local club. Then, one day, THE QUIET AMERICAN Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser) shows up. Pyle claims to be with a medical aid mission in country to combat trachoma, a bacterial disease causing blindness. But what is Pyle, really? He seems awfully chummy with the conniving powers over at the U.S. legation. In any case, Alden very soon falls in love with Phuong, attention that neither the jealous Fowler can prevent nor Phuong finds particularly unwelcome. Not since LITTLE VOICE (1998) has Michael Caine acted so powerfully, and this is perhaps his greatest role ever. An Academy Award nomination is deservedly due. Fraser is perfect as the clean-cut, idealistic and naïve Yank who may be something other than he claims. Yen is positively exquisite as the delicate Phuong. As Fowler puts it, his death would begin if he lost her. THE QUIET AMERICAN, based on the Graham Greene novel, can be seen as an allegorical story of America's fledgling interest in succoring Vietnam from the Red Menace. After all, the French seem unequal to the task. Pyle perhaps comes to symbolically represent the American innocence that is seduced by Vietnam in the form of Phuong, and the former wishes "to save" the latter from the escalating national chaos. Only the tired and world-weary Fowler knows that this is impossible. He would "save" Phuong himself if he could, but he can't. THE QUIET AMERICAN is an anti-war, anti-intervention film best viewed these many years after America withdrew from its Southeast Asian debacle and passions have cooled. This is one of the best films of 2002.
Rating:
Summary: Based on a book written in 1955 ¿ not about the Vietnam War
Review: Graham Greene must be turning in his grave over some of the reviews of the movie version of his book. He didn't write a story about the Vietnam War simply because he wrote The Quiet American in 1955 and set it in the early 1950's. At that time there was only an insurgency in a little-known south east Asian French colony - yet another example of a third-world country trying to break free of its European occupiers. The main character in the movie is that of the English journalist through whose eyes we see events. That is why this is the star part and why the "quiet American" is played as a secondary role. The Quiet American is about the role of conscience. What should you do when you see something wrong going on? How far should you get involved - or can you claim it's none of your business? Remember that the Nuremburg trials finished in 1949 and the issue of personal responsibility was still fresh in people's minds. This is my favorite version of the movie because it doesn't shove a "correct" answer to those questions in your face. The quiet American is likable and apparently sincere; the Vietnamese are neither idealized nor dumbed down; the flawed English journalist honestly struggles against his Faustian bargain - once he realizes what's going on. Movies in which goodies and baddies are identified from the beginning by the color of their hats or their horses are a bore. I replayed Philip Noyce's version of The Quiet American several times to catch the nuances, which is why I finally purchased my own copy. When the shouting dies down, this movie might become a collector's item.
Rating:
Summary: Censorship in the land of "free speech?"
Review: Sounds like this movie was censored for the US market - see review below about 17 missing minutes. Once again Greene's work has been changed! Anyone know the story of the 1958 version? Go to Amazon UK and you can buy it! This is the version made to sell the Vietnam war to the American public. I live in Vietnam and I see the results of American aggression even today. Over 60,000 Vietnamese have been killed by unexploded US made bombs remaining from the war. Oh America, what a giant bully you are! Most of the rest of the world just want you to leave us all alone in peace.
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