The Ugly American

Buy This Item The Ugly American by Universal Studios  Available from Amazon  $12.99  on 11-16-2008     In 'The Ugly American' we find Marlon Brando playing Harrison Mac White, the American ambassador to the ficticious Asian country of Sarkan. What we are presented with is a decent political plot, but one with significant flaws. <br /> <br />Brando stars opposite Eiji Okada who plays his old Sarkanese friend Deong, and herein lies one of the film's major problems. Okada's performance is limited. He does not appear convincing as the leader of his people, his fiendship with Brando appears lukewarm at best and he regularly stumbles over his lines. Brando puts in a quality performance, but this is not enough to stop the relationships between the characters from appearing somewhat forced. <br /> <br />The story itself is an interesting look at American foreign policy during the cold war, the ambiguous reasoning behind it and the reactions of those in the nations whom it effected. <br /> <br />Overall 'The Ugly American' is worth a watch, but those expecting a top notch, taught political thriller will be left disappointed. Reader Reviews I just watched it dubbed into Thai. There is a disclaimer on this version stating that although Thailand had just undergone a coup, this fictional country was not meant to be Thailand. Does that mean it was shot there and the Thai government requested the disclaimer? I do not remember it being on the US version but I saw that one over 40 years ago. I could not place the location as Thailand since the vehicles were left, rather than right hand drive. No indication as to the shooting location that I could find. Any ideas? Dated story and a simplistic Cold War Hollywood view. I read the book in the 50s and was impressed by it as I was by "The Manchurian Candidate". The film had more impact on me in '59 when I saw it than it did yesterday. Still, not a bad performance by Brando and probably an accurate view of the simplistic view most Americans had about French Indo-China. Ironic that he went on to play Col Kurtz. It was worth the 19 baht (47 cents approximatly) that I paid for it. It would not have been worth more.

The Ugly American Available from Amazon Price: $12.99 Updated on 11-16-2008.

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