The Quiet American (2002)

Overpraised remake of the Graham Greene novel of the same name .  Michael Caine is excellent as English journalist "Fowler", and the Vietnamese actors and cinematography are good but the story is a bore and Brendan Fraser is wooden and miscast as the CIA agent/Boy Scout "Pyle".  This film is much closer to Greene's novel than the 1957 American film which portrayed Pyle as a hero, but its still not very well written or interesting.

Most of the over done praise seems to be due to the anti-American message of the both the novel and film.  Which is annoying, since the book's Anti-Americanism is ham-fisted and  overdone. In the book,  Pyle, while physically brave,  isn't just a naive blunderer, he's positively moronic and so unreal you wonder if Greene ever knew an American or a CIA agent. The critics harp on the book's supposedly wise prescience regarding  America in Vietnam but the novel isn't warning against the escalation in the 1960's, its attacking America's *worldwide* attempt in the 1950's to combat Communism in the less developed world.  The game - the book implies - isn't worth the candle. So, if Vietnam, or any country wants to go Communist, we should let them.  Given that Greene was a friend of Soviet Spy Kim Philby its an understandable attitude on his part.

Note: I've called Caine "excellent" but that's more due to his fitting the part  (Fowler is supposed to be intelligent, cynical, English, and middle-aged/old) then any great acting feat on his part.  To my eye, he just gives a standard Caine performance, no different than a dozen others.

Summary: I'd suggest everyone read the novel and skip the movie. Its not as good as the hype would lead you to believe.