So, that was the movie I watched after dinner. I highly recommend both it and the book by Graham Greene. The movie was a good and mostly faithful rendering of the book, though because I had read the latter recently it's hard for me to determine how well the movie stands on its own. I think it does well, but if you're concerned grab a copy of the book because it's a quick read.
It's one of those books which if it had been written any time between 1970 and 2000 or so it would have been considered to be rather simplistic. The basic metaphors of the book/movie are rather obvious, with hindsight anyway.
But, as it was written in 1955 it has an incredible aura of prescience. The Quiet American represents the misguided but perhaps truly well intentioned desire to intervene in Vietnam, an element of our national character which perhaps wasn't universally obvious back then.
Anyway, I'm probably not saying anything here that any other critic hasn't said, but go take a look/read.
(and thanks to the generous reader who had bought me the book awhile back!)
