Staffan Ahrenberg Movies

Graham Greene's allegorical novel about America's role in the Vietnam conflict, and how it was perceived by the rest of the world, is brought to the screen for the second time in this adaptation directed by Phillip Noyce. Thomas Fowler (Michael Caine) is a British journalist who in 1952 is covering the early stages of the war in Indo-China for the London Times, not a demanding assignment since few in England are especially interested in the conflict. When not filing occasional reports, Fowler spends his time with Phuong (Do Thi Hai Yen), a beautiful woman who shares lovemaking and opium with Fowler and is willing to accept the fact the married journalist will never make her his wife. Fowler becomes friendly with Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser), a cheerful and articulate if seemingly naïve American who is in Saigon as part of a medical mission. As Fowler and Pyle develop a closer friendship, Pyle is introduced to Phuong, and the American soon becomes infatuated with her. When Fowler's editors suggest he return to London, he responds by digging himself deeper in covering the war, and Pyle attempts to take Phuong away; she soon rejects him. Undaunted, Pyle continues with his work, but Fowler discovers that medical help is not what the American is bringing to Vietnam. Pyle is in fact a CIA operative who is helping to organize and finance a "Third Force" who will battle Ho Chi Min's forces as well as the French and their allies. Fowler also learns that Pyle is behind a series of bombings which are believed to have been carried out by Communist extremists, and faces the ugly fact that his American friend is in fact a terrorist killing in the name of Uncle Sam's political interests. While completed in the fall of 2001, The Quiet American went unreleased until late 2002; after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the film's producers felt the film's critical view of America's role in the Vietnam war might be considered especially offensive. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This historical drama, directed by Agnieszka Holland, focuses on the rocky relationship between the renowned 19th century French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine. Rimbaud (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a teenage wunderkind known for his rebelliousness against conventional society and his surrealistic writing. He disrupts the life of Verlaine (David Thewlis), a more conventional writer who is older and married to a dutiful young wife, Mathilde (Romane Bohringer). The drunken Verlaine is unkind to Mathilde, even though her father is providing him with a house and an income to live on while he pursues his writing. Rimbaud overwhelms Verlaine, mocking his conventionality, constantly disrupting his domestic life, and somehow attracting the maniacal love of the older man. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

A pre-Twister Jami Gertz heads the cast in the independently produced Jersey Girl. Born and bred in the Garden State, Gertz is overwhelmed by a desire to taste life in the Big City across the river. Once she lands in New York City, Gertz instantly meets Dylan McDermott, the man of her dreams-nearly totalling his Mercedes in the process. Likewise a refugee from New Jersey, the well-heeled McDermott feels both gratified and uncomfortable by Gertz's attentions; after all, she represents everything that he's fought long and hard to forget. Your enjoyment of Jersey Girl is utterly dependent upon your feelings towards Jami Gertz, since she's pretty much the whole show in this unpretentious PG-rated romance. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This farcical send-up of the movie business borrows a plot from the classic 1968 Mel Brooks film The Producers. It stars Tony Curtis as J.P. Sheldrake, a movie producer sorely in need of a flop for tax purposes. Imagine his delight when a very young would-be filmmaker shows up on his doorstep with what could be the worst B-movie ever made, Lobster Man From Mars. In the story-within-a-story, a Martian lobster-man who has come to earth to steal some badly needed air for his home planet grows increasingly addicted to munching on humans. He is pursued by an addlepated professor (Patrick Macnee) a couple of all-American teens, and a trigger-happy military man. The movie looks guaranteed to be a flop, but of course it foils Sheldrake's plan by becoming a huge success. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi