The sight of Michael Caine turning in yet another Academy Award worthy performance is hardly new.
Watching Brendan Fraser gobble up a meaty role makes the 2002 film “The Quiet American” a far less common experience.
Before “Furry Vengeance” and those “Mummy” movies, Fraser showed he could hang with the likes of Caine in this engaging political thriller.
If only the filmmakers had clamped down on their clumsy anti-American taunts it could have been a classic.
Instead, it’s an aggressively watchable film featuring one of the more unique team pairings in recent memory.
“The Quiet American” opens in ’50s era Vietnam, the camera zooming in on a dead body floating in a river way. It’s Alden Pyle (Fraser), an American who we’re told has ties to both a British journalist named Thomas Fowler (Caine) and a beautiful Vietnamese woman (Do Thi Hai Yen).
The story quickly reverses course to show how Thomas and Alden first met. Thomas works for The London Times and lives with Phuong – despite having a wife back home in England.
He meets Alden by chance, and right away the American is smitten by Thomas’ girlfriend.
In the halls of one-dimensional characters Phuong should have her own wing. She’s a symbol of the country’s innocence, and the filmmakers can’t be bothered to make her anything more than that.
A love triangle quickly blooms. Alden promises Phuong youth and marriage, things Thomas can’t match given his own legal entanglements.
The love triangle gets shoved aside by political rumblings. A brash general funded by a third party unwilling to make itself known for now threatens to overtake both the existing Vietnamese power structure and the looming Communists for control of the country.
The mysteries behind the general’s benefactor are shamelessly structured, as are the symbolic efforts made by Alden to improve the shattered land.
The bond between Thomas and Alden fascinates from the moment they first meet. They should despise each other, but there’s something else at play here, a combination of wariness and respect that keeps bringing them together. That and their common love for a woman neither may ultimately end up with.
Fraser captures the youthful naivety of an American abroad, a man whose instincts can’t match his intentions. But while Fraser’s performance commands our attention, his character is ultimately damaged by a screenplay too eager to score points.
There’s plenty of hay to be had commenting on America’s involvement in Vietnam, but you know a film has it in for one side when it makes a key character ignore a massacre where dozens are killed while to wipe away a blood stain on his trousers.
It’s that kind of bald sloganeering which prevents “The Quiet American” from rising to the heights of classic political potboilers.
(Photo: Michael Caine received a Best Actor nomination for his gripping work in “The Quiet American.”)
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I saw a BBC interview with Michael Caine shortly after the film premiered, and the interviewer asked him if he thought the film was anti-American. He responded, “No, I don’t think it’s anti-American, I think it’s anti-corruption.”
That’s certainly a debatable opinion, but it was nice to see that Caine has a certain sensitivity about anti-Americanism that many of his fellow Europeans don’t share. He was clearly in it for the role, not to score any political points against America.
I would also point out that, given the title and subject matter, it’s interesting that not one principle member of the cast or crew of this film are Americans (the director is Australian, Fraser is Canadian, etc). It’s almost like watching a foreign film made with Hollywood money.
Also read a piece conducted with Caine at the time of the film’s release which said the producer was wary of releasing the film initially for fear its anti-American nature wouldn’t work so soon after 9/11. Caine rallied on the film’s behalf, and won.
Am guessing no such conversations are held in Hollywood these days.
I enjoy this movie (I’ve watched it several times). I like the period, setting and the pacing. I have a real soft spot for Brendan Fraser, and in this movie he proves he can actually do some real acting.
Good call on the character of Phuong. My favorite line in your review: “In the halls of one-dimensional characters Phuong should have her own wing.”
Once in a while I wax poetic, Heidi!
I also enjoyed Fraser’s performance in “Gods and Monsters” and felt he certainly held his own with that heavy-hitter cast. I remember at the time being very pleasantly surprised with him in that movie. Even though it has an entirely different feel, I also liked him very much in “Blast from the Past,” so seeing him in the trailers for “Furry Vengeance” really make me cringe. I will say he certainly has had a unique career.
Met him recently and he seemed like a very balanced fellow. I guess that helps him shift from money making franchises – Da Mummy – to kiddie stuff to the occasional good role! Yeah, Furry Vengeance looks painful