The Quiet American

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The Quiet American ★★★ 2002 (R)

Caine welldeserves accolades in this role of a lifetime, portraying the aging and cynical English journalist Thomas Fowler, a longtime correspondent based in 1950s Saigon. He's obsessed with his beautiful young Vietnamese mistress Phuong (Yen) who also becomes a romantic object for brash American Alden Pyle (Fraser). There's something about this dogooder, who's supposedly on a medical mission, that makes Fowler both suspicious and jealous. Set amidst the communicst insurgence of Ho Chi Minh into Frenchheld IndoChina, which will then lead to American involvement. Based on the novel by Graham Greene. 118m/C VHS, DVD . US Michael Caine, Brendan Fraser, Do Thi Hai Yen, Rade Serbedzija, Tzi Ma, Robert Stanton, Holmes Osborne, Pham Thai Mai Hoa, Quang Hai, Ferdinand Hoang; D: Phillip Noyce; W: Christopher Hampton, Robert Schenkkan; C: Christopher Doyle; M: Craig Armstrong. Natl. Bd. of Review '02: Director (Noyce).