Movie Reviews

It's strange that this movie -- which received a lot of praise from a lot of critics -- did pretty much nothing for me. I'm at a bit of a loss to try and describe why I didn't really care for it, though I think it might be because it seemed to be a very average, mediocre film, with nothing exceptionally good to rave about, nor anything horrifically bad to make fun of. It's just a big "Meh".

Michael Caine plays Thomas Fowler, an Associated Press reporter living in Siagon near the beginning of the Vietnam War. Life is pretty good for him, as he's fallen in love with a beautiful (and much younger) Vietnamese girl. Unfortunately, he's found little to write about in the last few months, and his superiors are threatening to send him back to America. Further complicating things is his friendship with Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser), an American aid worker who develops a crush on Fowler's girlfriend, and is not reluctant to let that be known to both of them.

That's a basic outline of the plot, though there are a few other dimensions. The relationship between Fowler and Pyle comes across as really weird -- what with both of them remaining very good friends in spite of Pyle's serious and outspoken attraction to Fowler's girlfriend. There's also something of a twist near the end when we find out that Pyle is not quite the man we're expected to believe he is. But the twist seems to come across as a lot less dramatic than it should've been, and I didn't find myself caring too much for it.

Anyway, I'm a little surprised at how many excellent reviews The Quiet American is getting, considering the fact that I found it to be completely underwhelming.