The Quiet American
Dir: Phillip Noyce
2002
****
The second adaptation of Graham Green's novel sees a more faithful approach in Phillip Noyce's 2002 version, thanks to the beautiful direction and a brilliant performance by Michael Caine. Phillip Noyce gets the mood of the book perfectly and the visuals are what I pictured when reading and then some. Certain scenes were almost identical to those in the book in terms of anticipation and tension. The only problem with Michael Caine's brilliant performance is that poor old Brendan Fraser couldn't come close to competing against it, something that should have been pivotal in keeping with the book. Certain conversations are missing from the book also which I found a shame but then it is a tricky story to adapt. All that said though, if every adaptation was this good more publishers would invest in film studios.