Review – The Quiet American (2002)

Parts of this movie are really good, and parts are more than a little on the uninteresting side. That’s because roughly half the movie is devoted to early 50s political intrigue in Indochina, and the other half is squandered on a thoroughly boring love triangle between an aging English journalist, his Vietnamese mistress and a young American economic advisor who may be more than he seems. Sure, the romance is obviously supposed to be an allegory about the desires of colonialists old and new to possess the inscrutable East, but that doesn’t make the romantic comings and goings any more entertaining than the average soap opera. However, the espionage thriller aspects of the production are more than enough to make up for the sappy soap, especially if you’re like me and you start with at least a little interest in the subject matter. Mildly amusing