wefweofla Review of The Quiet American

The Quiet American (2002)

A gut wrenchingly authentic look at the era - might be spoilers

[8/10 · 17 March 2005]

This film made me feel quite sick - not because it wasn't excellent, because it was, but because of the war it presaged. The characters, Fowler (played as ever brilliantly by Michael Caine) and Pyle (Brendan Fraser was a revelation here, - a young, less than idealistic intelligence officer, who looked and acted, right down to his mannerisms, like a tough, middle class American of that 1950s era, who was absolutely sure that he was in the right). The girl, beautiful and docile, is a mere foil for the men to vie over - anybody who thinks her character should be developed is in my opinion mistaken, they are not interested in her for her character,and she has no need of one in the context of this movie. The settings and cinematography are perfect. This is a wonderful movie, if only we didn't know what was coming next.There was some lip service paid to the Vietnam War right at the very end, which appears, naturally, neither in the original novel nor in the first movie made in 1958, but added a great deal to this version.