Anti-war flick finally released

Originally set for release in fall 2001, "The Quiet American" was one of many films delayed in fear of a Sept. 11 backlash. While the film does carry an anti-American sentiment concerning our war and foreign policies, the message is conveyed so subtly and brilliantly that one hardly even realizes the implications of its meaning. Like the quiet American character played by Brendan Fraser, "The Quiet American" is a film that hides its true identity initially, slowly revealing it as the film progresses.\nMichael Caine, in an Oscar-nominated performance, plays Thomas Fowler, an old British reporter stationed in Saigon in 1952. He has been in Saigon for some time, living with a Vietnamese woman whom he would marry if he could get his London wife to grant him a divorce. He makes the point early in the film that he is a reporter, not a correspondent. He reports what he sees, takes no action and has no opinion, even though innocent people are dying around him. Of course, by pushing this film back eighteen months, Fowler's attitude toward war carries much more weight. Caine has once again delivered a masterful performance to the point where it doesn't even seem like he's acting. Fraser is excellent as well as American Alden Pyle who is hiding more than he'll say, and who falls in love with Caine's girlfriend, Phuong. Like in 1998's "Gods and Monsters," Fraser has broken from his normal diet of cartoonish comedies to take on a role of more substance and depth, showing he is a terrific actor when he wants to be.\nFrom 1978 to 1987 there were a plethora of Vietnam films, all against it that focused primarily on the American soldier's experience during combat. This film is decidedly anti-American, but I don't imagine it offending many people. It is slow-paced and honest. By the time it reveals its true meaning, we are much too far along in the story and involved with the characters to feel anything but true understanding.