Top 10 CIA Movies
Ever notice how movies almost always make the Central Intelligency the bad guy? Ridley Scott's new Body of Lies is no different. TIME looks back at some of the most memorable flicks starring the secretive organization.
Based on the Graham Greene novel, The Quiet American is the tale of a jaded journalist (Michael Caine) who butts up against a young American idealist (Brendan Fraser) who just happens to be a CIA agent that helps bring Vietnam closer to war. Initially slated to be released after 9/11, the film was delayed until 2002, presumably because it essentially implicates Americans in terrorist bombings.
It's a rather large question the movie asks: How much death and destruction should America cause in order to "save" a nation? Alden Pyle, the quiet (yet ultimately deadly) American played by Fraser, probably has a different definition than the average person. We all know how Vietnam turned out.
From the TIME archives, Richard Corliss' 2002 review of The Quiet American
From the TIME archives, the best films of 2002
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