Rating- * * * * (4/5)
Each year, in the time between the announcements of the Oscar nominees and the actual ceremonies, I make a mad dash to see all the nominated films that I missed during the year. Unfortunately for me, I live in Alabama which despite its many charms is completely vacuous of all things Hollywood. This means I get jilted on many of the year’s best films until they come out on video. However, Oscar nominations do occasionally spur some interest in a film and one of the smaller theaters (I hate to plug a business without being paid but, what the heck…it’s the Galleria Theater) likes to take chances on some of the more artsy fair coming out of limited releases. In fact, all told I’ve seen six movies this year in that tiny little theater and all of them made my top twenty (all but one are nominated for Oscars this year). This film by Australian director Phillip Noyce is the last nominated film that I have the opportunity to see and I entered looking for a great performance out of Best Actor contender Michael Caine. Caine is not by any means new to the Oscar scene, winning most recently in 1999 for his supporting performance in The Cider House Rules (a good performance, but Haley Joel Osment should have won that year for The Sixth Sense). In this film, Caine plays a British journalist assigned to cover the conflict in Vietnam as the French army was beginning to pull out and the Communists were beginning to advance. There is not much talk yet of American forces being sent in there doesn’t seem to be much fear or terror among the natives concerning the Communists. In the opening voice-over, we are told by Caine’s character of the exotic, intoxicating appeal of Vietnam and the almost addictive power it has over all who visit or live there. Caine lives a very decadent lifestyle in his very regal looking loft apartment with a very beautiful pay-dancer name Phuong. The two seem very happy with each other on the surface but as we see more of their relationship, we realize that Caine really loves her because he needs to love something and Phuong only loves him because he gives her money, food and a place to live, all of which are luxurious at this time in Vietnam. Every time we see the two together they either are making love or smoking opium. All seems well for Caine until one day he is notified by the London paper that he works for that his assignment is over and he must now return to England. The thought of leaving Vietnam is almost unthinkable for Caine so he wires back that he has just come upon a story that he must follow through on and he needs more time. Caine begins a search for a story that will satisfy his London editors and comes upon an American aid worker by the name of Pyle (Brendan Fraser). Pyle is an intellectual who takes a fondness to Caine, asking him constantly about the culture and environment in Vietnam and spouting out passages from his anti-Communist literature. As he spends more time with Caine, he also begins to fall in love with Phuong, but for different reasons than Caine. Pyle sees Phuong as a symbol of all the oppressed people of Vietnam and he desires above all else to help bring her out of the impoverished slums of her world and give her a decent lifestyle. The romantic conflict that arises is obvious to both men and they try their best to deal with it civilly, making their feelings well-known to one another and treating each other with a respect about the issue that one would rarely find in real people, let alone in movie characters. However, I should mention at this point that this film is adapted from a novel by legendary suspense writer Graham Greene (he also wrote one of the greatest thrillers of all time, The Third Man) so it should be obvious from that alone that this is not going to be any old war-time romance story. Revelations are made about the true nature of Pyle and what exactly he is doing in Vietnam. I won’t reveal the details but basically the movie begins to make insinuations that the CIA may have done some terrible things in order to justify American military involvement in Vietnam. The motives of the Americans are never questioned; they truly believe at all times that Communism poses a terrible threat to the people of Vietnam. However, this story certainly questions their actions and reflects a pretty powerful anti-American sentiment by the filmmakers. This film was originally scheduled for release shortly after September 11th, but was shelved because the studios feared that the anti-American undertones of this film were just not what the American audiences were looking for. If you know me, then you know that I have very strong political beliefs and will be glad to discuss them with you any time. However, my political beliefs are not really of any consequence in this forum, seeing as how you are here to read a movie review not a political opinion. In fact, all journalists could take a lesson from me and keep their own beliefs about politics to themselves and out of their movie reviews (cough…Roger Ebert) but that’s another argument for another day. I will go ahead and tell you, as an American and as someone who takes pride in the fact of being an American, this film hurts a little. It is a natural feeling to get angry when someone makes accusations and criticisms of your country that don’t have any hard evidence to back them up. There is certainly evidence to indicate that the CIA played an early role in our involvement in Vietnam but certainly nothing to the extent which is displayed in this movie. My point: Graham Greene is a fiction writer. He does base his novels in very political settings but the events and characters in his book are totally fictional and should be enjoyed as any other wonderfully crafter mystery story would. Anyone who says otherwise is mistaken, misguided and misled by their anxiousness to find some reason to hate America (cough…Roger Ebert…gosh, am I getting a cold?). When viewed purely as a well-written, well-crafted thriller, The Quiet American is an extremely thoughtful, but also entertaining political thriller with a healthy dose of emotional drama thrown in for the ladies. It is also extremely well-acted with an unusually serious performance by Fraser, usually known for much goofier fair, and one of the best performances of the year coming from Michael Caine. Caine plays his character with such effortless skill and complete believability, we never doubt for one second who he is. We are unable to see through the character, and perhaps most importantly, we never even notice that he is acting. These are all signs of a truly great performance and even in a category as stacked as the Best Actor award is this year, Caine would certainly be as deserving as anyone for the Oscar. I highly recommend this film, but remember what I said before: this is a movie and don’t allow your experience to be ruined just because the Americans are the bad guys. We’ve made everyone else the bad guys so often in our movies, I guess it’s just our turn. P.S. I would like to make it clear that I don’t in any way hate Roger Ebert. I respect him immensely and consider him to be far and away the best critic out there. He just needs to keep the politics in a different column.