Review

I haven't seen the 1958 film of Greene's book, though I've heard that the American (played by Audie Murphy) is treated as more of a hero, which is not what Greene intended in his original work.

This new film directed by the talented Philip Noyce is closer to the original work and benefits from Michael Caine's presence as an aging British journalist who fancies himself a mere observer in the escalating warfare between the French colonialists and the Communist forces who want them out. He soon finds out that it's not so easy to maintain a neutral stance.

However, for the story to have its full impact, there needs to be a deep, palpable friendship between Caine's character and that of the title character (played by Brendan Fraser), who is not what he seems.

Unfortunately, that bond doesn't come through in the film at all. Most of the time we're treated to the romantic triangle consisting of these two men and Caine's Vietnamese mistress. The actress who plays this role is very pretty, but also quite dull which makes the character obtuse rather than mysterious. She and Fraser set off nothing close to sparks and her behavior isn't always believable. The woman who plays her sister is far more interesting and has less screen time.

The result of all this is that the tragic impact of Caine's actions near the end is muted and robs the film of the cumulative power of the story. The film is more interested in being a fast-moving quasi-thriller and it's pretty entertaining, if superficial, on that score.

I noticed that the version that Miramax has released in the U.S. has been cut by 18 minutes from what was shown at the Toronto Film Festival back in 2001. I wonder if that's partly responsible for the problem I mention above, or if it really didn't make any difference.