The Quiet American
This is not a movie to be quiet over. Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser vie for the love of a Vietnamese woman during the dying days of the French colonial period in Vietnam. Caine plays Thomas Fowler, a British journalist who's overstayed his welcome according to his bosses in London and want him to return. But his love for Phuong keeps him in Saigon and so, stories from the front line of the skirmishes between the French and the Communists allow him to stay temporarily. In arrives Fraser as Alden Pyle, part of an economic task force from America. The two become friends but Phuong catches the eye of Pyle, who instantly falls in love with her. The problem between Fowler and Phuong is that Phuong wants to be married and possibly even travel with him to England, but Fowler has a wife back home who is not willing to get a divorce. When Phuong finds out Fowler's lie about a promised divorce, she leaves him for Pyle. This sets up an interesting discovery about Pyle and a resolution that ends up with the death of Pyle, as seen in the beginning of the film.

This is a great film on many levels. On one, it's a fight between two men for the love of a woman. On another, it's about two men and their own separate ways in what they believe is the correct way to save Vietnam. On another, it's a story about the struggles between the French and the Communists with innocent people caught in the middle just trying to survive or to start their own little revolution. On another, it sets up the many storylines for the Vietnam War and America's involvement, specifically the CIA, before it. While Caine's performance is excellent, possibly even routine now with another Oscar nomination under his belt, Fraser's performance should not be overlooked. He's come a long way from the likes of Encino Man and Airheads to make quality films like Gods and Monsters and this movie. Both exhibit a certain easiness when working together and that provides wonders to the screen. Director Philip Noyce (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, Rabbit-Proof Fence among others), in a novel by Graham Greene, seamlessly combines the romances with the politics to make a powerful film that makes the simple even more complex in scenes that capture the beauty of a yet-to-be-disturbed Vietnam. 4 stars