Roger Ebert praised Brendan Fraser’s performance in forgotten political thriller

Brendan Fraser has made an impressive comeback in recent years and has allowed the talented actor to receive the accolade he has always deserved. With the announcement that Fraser and Rachel Weisz are returning for “The Mummy 4,” her re-ascension is solidified. So it’s the perfect time to look back at some overlooked entries in the actor’s filmography that, like the star himself, deserve more attention, and “The Quiet American” is the perfect example.

This 2002 political drama is directed by Phillip Noyce, the Australian filmmaker who also gave us Val Kilmer’s “The Saint” in 1997, “Salt” with Angelina Jolie, and two Jack Ryan adaptations in 1992’s “Patriot Games” and 1994’s “Clear and Present Danger.” Simply put, the man knew his way around a political thriller by the time he came to direct this adaptation of Graham’s novel of the same name Greene from 1955.

“The Quiet American” was adapted by Christopher Hampton and Robert Schenkkan and stars Fraser as a young American doctor who finds himself in a love triangle with a beautiful Vietnamese woman played by Do Thi Hai Yen and an older British journalist played by Michael Caine (they both want the girl, it’s not a Fraser/Caine love story). But this is no mere romantic drama, as “The Quiet American” is set in 1952 Saigon and has a lot to say about American involvement in the First Indochina War – none of it very positive. Someone who did have a lot of positive things to say, however, was Roger Ebert, who, like many other critics, absolutely loved this film – especially Fraser’s performance – and ultimately gave it a perfect score.

“The Quiet American” is one of Brendan Fraser’s best films, but it’s not just Fraser who makes it such a triumph. The film sees Michael Caine’s aging, love-starved British journalist Thomas Fowler reporting on Vietnam’s First Indochina War, which saw the French fighting communist-led Viet Minh rebels. Since reporting on the conflict, Fowler has fallen in love with a Vietnamese girl whom he pays to be his mistress. Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen) is several decades younger than Fowler, but the foreign correspondent is convinced their love is real. Meanwhile, the CIA sends Brendan Fraser’s Alden Pyle to pose as an aid worker to surreptitiously carry out operations that will tilt the war in America’s favor and ultimately provide the ideal ground for American involvement in the conflict.

Unfortunately for Fowler, Pyle soon takes a liking to Phuong and attempts to rob her with promises of marriage and a life of comfort. Naturally, Caine’s aging journalist doesn’t take too kindly to Pyle’s advances, so he reveals to the communists that the American armed the splinter group responsible for a series of terrorist attacks in Saigon that killed several innocent people.

All of this seemed to impress Roger Ebert a lot, as the critic gave the film a perfect review, praising just about every aspect of the film, from the direction to the script’s faithfulness to the original novel. Ebert, who died in 2013 at the age of 70, also noted how Fraser finally showed his full talents in the film, after playing the role of a “walking cartoon” too often in previous efforts.

“The Quiet American” was the second adaptation of the original novel. A 1958 version removed all criticism of America’s surreptitious involvement in the First Indochina War, but the 2002 film added it all back. It was originally supposed to debut in 2001, but after 9/11, Miramax decided to shelve “The Quiet American” due to the aforementioned criticism from the United States. The film eventually debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in 2002 and earned an Oscar qualifier later that year, before a limited release in January 2003, where it grossed $12.9 million domestically.

Michael Caine was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, but to Roger Ebert, Caine was only part of a hugely impressive whole. The reviewer praised Fraser, who the reviewer said “often plays the role of a walking cartoon” in reference to his films “Dudley Do-Right” and “George of the Jungle.” According to Ebert, Fraser had demonstrated himself to be a “gifted actor” in other films, but in “The Quiet American” he “strike the right balance between confidence and blindness: what he is doing is wrong, but he is convinced that it is right, and he has a simple, sunny outlook that drives an old man like Fowler crazy.” Ultimately, Ebert praised Phillip Noyce for presenting “a more mature and scholarly worldview than the simplistic pieties that provide the public face of foreign policy.”

The film has also been well received elsewhere and currently boasts an 87% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. So if you want to watch this underseen political drama with Ebert’s ringing support, you can watch “The Quiet American” for free on Pluto, which is catching up with fellow Tubi as one of the best streaming services.