Graham Greene's novel, "The Quiet American", was about a naive and rather dumb CIA operative whose blunders led to tragedy and death in Vietnam following the withdrawal of the French in the 1950s. It is definitely NOT a story that advises a greater American presence in the country and could even be seen as a huge counterpoint to American foreign policy in the 1960s. So what does Hollywood do? They buy the story and change it completely--and in the process that pretty much make it into a film saying the opposite of Greene in his novel!!! Not surprisingly, the author and many others were ticked and ended up hating the film. So, as a retired history teacher, I could not help but automatically hate the film because of its dishonesty. But that isn't the only problem with the movie...it's also very boring and was filled with Asians who aren't really Asian. All in all, you could certainly do better than this turgid little romance.
Review of The Quiet American
