Those who can not learn often teach and those teachers who do not know are usually the critic's. It is interesting to see a accurate protrait of the past and current Vietnam at the same time. Caine's performance is acted out daily around me, spring/winter romances which often have a more bittersweet ending then Caines. If the USA hadn't been on a war footing I am sure an Oscar would have been the result. As far as the performance of the supporting cast I have met fanatic's dispersing aid under religious causes, & country interests who have showed the same disregard and extremism as the American protrayed. They show the same wide eyed friendly exterior while pushing an interior agenda. As Phuong character is protrayed it is very little of a change she acts like traditional Vietnamese women do now. After 12 going on 13 years here in country, I would ask those who critic to research more rather then react

This is a fine film for several reasons, the best of which, of course, is Michael Caine's Oscar-nominated performance. The triangulation of the film's primary characters works at once on the love affair level, then serves symbolically to represent the different nations and views involved with the pre-Vietnam War in the 1950s. The story is engaging, the subject matter is pertinent, and the characters are very fascinating to watch. This is director Phillip Noyce's best work so far, along with Rabbit-Proof Fenc