The Ugly American

An obviously sincere but nonetheless simplistic critique of American foreign policy in Southeast Asia, THE UGLY AMERICAN quickly squanders whatever interest it may hold due to its didactic script and dull direction. Set in the fictional Asian nation of Sarkhan, the film follows American ambassador Harrison Carter MacWhite (a somewhat silly-looking Marlon Brando, sporting the thinnest of mustaches), a powerful newspaper publisher who is sent to Sarkhan to oversee the construction of the "Freedom Road," an international highway financed by the US. Sarkhan, however, is engulfed in civil war, and construction of the road is constantly threatened by communist rebels. Ma...