The Quiet American

MPAA Rating

Theatrical Release Date

May 19, 2002

Genre(s)

Political Drama
Americans Abroad
Period Piece
Mystery & Thriller
Love Triangle
Australia & New Zealand
Foreign Spotlight

Rating (Stars)

Description

The Quiet American proves that elegant and intelligent filmmaking can be emotionally powerful. Michael Caine plays Thomas Fowler, a British journalist in 1950s Vietnam with a lovely Vietnamese mistress named Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen) and a jaded view of the political strife teeming around him. He befriends a seemingly innocuous American named Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser), who falls in love with Phuong--and slowly, Pyle's real purpose in Vietnam becomes revealed. Fowler finds that, to hold on to the carefully balanced life he's created for himself, he must make choices he's long avoided. Caine and Fraser are both superb and give a human face to complicated politics; as a result, The Quiet American manages to be compelling as both history and a story about very specific people embroiled in a very personal conflict. An impressive film from director Philip Noyce (Rabbit-Proof Fence, Patriot Games). --Bret Fetzer

Director

Phillip Noyce

Stars

Michael Caine
Brendan Fraser
Rade Serbedzija
Do Hai Yen

Running Time

101 minutes

Original Price

$14.99

Current Value

$2.00

DVD Features

Closed-captioned
Color
Dolby
DVD-Video
Widescreen
NTSC
2.35:1