The Quiet American

Rating:
Summary: Quiet Triumph for Caine, Fraser and Noyce
Review: Both actors and director Noyce deliver career defining performances in "The Quiet American." Although Caine has rendered so many wonderful performances over his long career, this may be his finest. The role offered him great range since this character churns up many conflicting emotions. I didn't like the character very much in the beginning whereas Fraser's American seems very likeable. But all is not as it seems and Caine's Thomas Fowler, a London journalist, is about to get his eyes opened wide to Vietnam during French control, shortly to be followed by American control. Some viewers are calling this film primarily a love triangle and a love story since Caine and Fraser both love the same woman. I'm not so sure. I'm not even really sure that Fraser is in love with her. Rather, the principal characters are those played by Fraser and Caine and the real conflicts in the film initially arise from their clash over the woman. But they are not just conflicted over the woman. That's the surface of things. Underneath they are both on the loose in Vietnam with their respective agendas. At issue is whether either or both has any heart or feeling which exists under those agendas. Amidst all the quiet drama of this movie, there is an explosive terrorist attack and that changes everything, including our perspectives of these two men. The woman they have been fighting over becomes very secondary to me from that point forward. These are not simplistic characters or an ordinary plotline. I really like the complexity and layers of this work and Caine and Fraser are fully up to the task. Director Noyce does a brilliant job of bringing this excellent work to the screen. I hope Caine does get the Oscar. As for Fraser, this is his best work since "Gods and Monsters" and I hope he gets his lead role that knocks everyone out shortly. I feel that it is only a matter of time.

Rating:
Summary: The Quiet American
Review: A stunning film set in French Indochina (Vietnam)durning the early 1950's.Michael Caine gives a Oscar performance as a English newspaper man in Saigon with a opium and alcohol problem,a wife back in England,and a beautiful young Vietnamese mistress(Do Thi Hai Yen).Brendan Fraser of Mummy fame plays a cynical CIA agent posing as a aid worker.The acting is superb,and the movie has a gorgeous look.There is a terrorist bombing scene that is so realistic you feel like you are actually there.Against this backdrop of political violence and inpending doom for French colonial rule a love triangle develops between the three main characters which makes for a great ending.Don't miss this one.

Rating:
Summary: The story deepens. Reality changes. Questions emerge.
Review: Vietnam. It makes me think of war.

But even before Americans got involved, the Vietnamese were fighting the French for independence. And it was Ho Chi Minh and the Communists who were actively doing the fighting.

It was the early 1950s though, years before the Americans got involved.

Or was it?

This film answers that question.

And yet, there is a lot more to the story than just the politics.

It is about an aging British journalist, played by Michael Caine. He's been in Vietnam for years and loves it. He has a wife somewhere in England who he hasn't seen in years and will not divorce him. And he has a gorgeous young Vietnamese woman, Do Hai Yen, who he's been living with for several years. The arrangement works for both of them.

But things change. A quiet American, played by Brendan Fraser enters the picture. He says he's an aid worker. And he befriends Michael Caine.

But what is the American's REAL purpose in Vietnam? Questions start to surface. Especially when the American declares his love for Caine's woman.

In the meantime a war is going on. Caine and Fraser almost get killed. And then there is a horrible explosion in the middle of the city.

There's death all around. And love. And a sense of place so well captured by the director, Phillip Noyce, that I could almost feel the Vietnam of the 1950's all around me.

The story moved fast, and the plot revealed details that changed the reality of what things seemed at first. And it was all done so well that all I could do was sit there, watch the screen, and let it all unfold.

The film was supposed to be released in September 2001, shortly after 9/11. However, the filmmakers chose to hold on to it until 2002. When you see it, the reason will become startlingly clear.

This screenplay is an adaptation of the book written by Graham Greene in 1955. I loved the book. And I love the film. I give it my highest recommendation. Don't miss it.

Rating:
Summary: "THE QUIET AMERICAN" IS A DISAPPOINTMENT
Review: If I were a CIA agent and the man I was interviewing and investigating walked to an open window and paged through a book, I would immediately know that he was signalling a contact. Not the CIA agent in this movie. He nearly single-handedly captures himself. Sure, Michael Caine is fine with 'character' chiseled on his mature fine lined face but he's surrounded by a lot of clap-trap that reeks of dated romantic adventure fiction from years gone by. The intriguing premise of American CIA operatives in pre-war Vietnam is too singularly entwined in a love triangle that remains confused and inconclusive and somehow cold-hearted. The political espionage is simple and barely thought provoking in its depiction of the CIA as anything but a noble force. There is no excusing the character of Phoung as the female love interest who is throughout, the depiction of stereotypical American bias of a 'pretty Asian woman', a demure mindless geisha of a girl you expect to see serve tea at any moment while delivering a foot massage. Big sweeping musical score doesn't enhance the film, it impounds it. A big disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: OSCARS HERE WE COME!!!!!
Review: I really only need to hear Brendan Fraser I'm there. Michael Caine can make any movie a hit, BUT with the both of them HELLO OSCARS!!!! ...

Rating:
Summary: The quiet and working thriller
Review: It's 1952 and it's Vietnam. Local troops are trying to make Vietnam an independent nation from France, who ruled all Indochina. Also, the World War two had ended not a decade before, and the world is being divided between "who's with USA and who's with USSR".

In this scenario, Michael Caine is Thomas Fowler, a british journalist based in Saigon during Vietnam's struggle for independence. He has a vietnamese lover, the beautiful Phuong, and he's thorn between the life he had before in UK and the new life he could have with the young asian woman.

Then, Fowler (Caine) receives a message from his newspaper in England, telling him to go back because he's not writing that much in Vietnam. And that's when he meets Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser), the "quiet american", working for the medical assistance in Vietnam, but who seems much more than he's willing to tell.

Phillip Noyce, as we can see from his other movies ("Patriot games", "Clear and present danger", "Dead calm", "The bone collector") is a director that can build up tension almost from nowhere and using simple situations and takes. He uses movements from the actors, simple lines and gestures, to create a huge thrilling sensation in the viewer. Of course, there are some violent and explosive scenes in "The quiet american", but these are the obvious action situations; this movie is excellent because of its subtlety in creating a thrilling atmosphere. That's why I think Noyce was the perfect choice for directing a movie based on a novel by Graham Greene, who is a master in creating subtle and indirect thrillers in his books.

Michael Caine is always a surprise: I wonder why an actor with his talent, capable of performances such as the one in this movie and Dr. Larch in "Cider house rules" still says "yes" to roles in movies such as Stallone's "Get Carter". Anyway, this is, in my opinion, his best performance ever. Brendan Fraser is also excellent, stating himself as an actor capable of providing convincing performances to very different characters in different movie genres (action - "The mummy"; comedy - "Bedazzled"; drama - "Gods and monsters"). In "The quiet american" his character Alden Pyle is perfectly what he was supposed to be (don't want to give anything away). The rest of the cast, mainly the asian actors (good ones, I should add), provide for the authenticity of the movie as a whole. ...

Rating:
Summary: SOMBER, AS IN DARK COLORED, HUSH, HUSH!!
Review: This is one of the best movies out in 2003, and should not be forgotten at the awards...
The acting is excellent as well as the cinematography. The mood is one of expectations and you will not be left in limbo. The filtered lighting makes for a mysterious setting.

This is a movie about a love triangle, impending chaos and betrayal. Not heavy on political, but a touch of intrigue and
the French Indo-China war in Vietnam.

The opening scene may seem to end the plot, but, I assure you it only gets better.

Michael Caine as(Thomas Fowler) is a reporter who has been resting on his laurels and letting the war slip by him. He says he is not an correspondent but rather a 'reporter' for a newspaper in London. He is heavy into opium and drink and has a local concubine as well as a wife in England. He meets Brenden as(Alden Pyle)at a sidewalk cafe. He says he is with the medical corp to help out the native people. He has the thankless job of being the protagonist in this movie. And he does a great job.

Do Thi Hai Yen as (Phong)Plays the love interestfor both men and the one Pyle wants to save from Fowler. She is beautiful and plays her role well, but is only secondary to the main characters od Fowler and Pyle.

This is a must see movie , well acted , great cinematography, and the music score is very mood setting.
I give this flick a 5/5/
ciao yaaah69

Rating:
Summary: Bravo for Caine's nuanced performance
Review: Like many, I was attracted to this film because I'm a Michael Caine fan and I had heard the buzz, even before his recent Oscar nomination.

The buzz is warranted. I can't imagine anyone else as Thomas Fowler. While there's some rage and crashing about, it's the nuances that make his performance succeed. Richly delivered lines like "I know I'm not essential to Phuong, but if I were to lose her, for me that would be the beginning of death."

In Caine's hands, that line is so richly delivered, it sends chills down your spine.

The two other stars here worth noting:

- Brendan Fraser...yes, he does a lot of goofy stuff like Encino Man, George of the Jungle and Dudley Do-Right. But let's give the guy his props: Gods and Monsters was a triumph, and he's perfectly cast here as 'aid worker' Alden Pyle.

- Vietnam...under Philip Noyce's expert direction, the country itself takes center stage. It's got the perfect languid, sultry feel.

Rush out to see this film before the Academy Awards. Then, go home and root for Michael Caine.

Rating:
Summary: The moviemaking of hindsight
Review: I watched this version of "Quiet American" in appropriately, Saigon. The theater was very nice and you sat in the seat assigned, by God, no roaming about. The Party is definitely in command. This version is very good and so especially is Michael Caine. Watching it in a posh, Western-style movie house in Saigon--communism with a Citibank skyscraper--is a bit of an absurdity. I also stayed at the Continental so it was deja vu all over again. Please remember the 1958 version came long before we were militarily involved in Nam, and the country was just another stop on the Joseph Conrad tour. Granted Murphy wasn't much of an actor but that version gave a little more attention to the French and lacked the hokey, anti-war 60s bushwah at the close of the present version. Skip the DVD, get a ticket to the Peoples' Republic, bunk at the Continental and take in the real thing at the spiffy shopping center movie palace. Then tour the country--it's beautiful, very interesting, the war is long past (American war, that is) and the contrast between Party sponsored Stalinist style billboards and the nascent New Economic Policy is something to ponder.

Rating:
Summary: The Quiet American
Review: Graham Greene's novel comes to life in this splendid adaptation of a movie of same name ("The Quiet American"). The good guy even gets his girl back, and the bad guy, basically the American
CIA agent, it's really had to tell who were the good and bad guys in French-occupied Saigon in 1952, but at least the CIA agent finally gets what's coming to him. The plot is a bit complicated, but that's classic Greene for you (recall that he also wrote "Our Man in Havana").

Can't recommend this movie too much - get the DVD or videotape when it's released, just so you can watch the movie again and try to follow the intricacies of the story more closely. Or read
the book at your local library and think it through for yourself..

Rumor has it that this movie is being held-back in many area movie theaters for the political reasons of the moment - Bush's upcoming war in Iraq. Wouldn't surprise me. If you do get a
chance to see it, you probably will come away from this with some strong anti-war sentiment. I know I did. That's probably why the Pentagon no longer allows independent investigators/reporters anywhere near the battlefields anymore. At least until after they can sanitize everything for PR. That wasn't the case in Vietnam in the 1950's and 60's. All that has
changed now, PR/news is integrated into the military Psy-Ops department.

At least, you should remember that truth is the first casualty in a war -- Hemingway's quote, I think - and I suppose this movie will help to show you that it is a good example of that maxim.

You really don't know who is on what side at any given time. It's probably true right now in Afghanistan, and that's probably going to be true in Iraq once it is occupied by the US troops....