#reviews #thesympathizer #robertdowneyjr #hoaxuande #vietnam #hollywoodseries #miniseries
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Illusions by Anno Domini Beats
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00:00Fall of Saigon is an important historical world event in terms of politics and social
00:09dynamics of Vietnam.
00:11The day the 30th of April 1975, marked a day in the unification of Vietnam.
00:17The infamous Long Vietnam War that started on November 1st, 1955, ended with this historical
00:23event.
00:24Though it's only one way of looking at it, the other way being American is a bit distorted
00:28and predictable, due to their love and hate relationship with the communists.
00:32The Sympathizer is based on such a premise.
00:35The novel was written by a Vietnamese-American professor and writer, Viet Thanh Nguyen.
00:40The story is fictional, and is about a North Vietnamese spy that infiltrated the South
00:44Vietnam Army and managed to survive several years based on his dual-sided and adaptable
00:49nature.
00:50The actor, Hoa Xuan De, played that difficult role very well, and portrayed what a person
00:54would go through during such an assignment.
00:57The supporting cast is very well chosen too.
01:00Be it the cynical general, played by Toan Le, under whom our main lead worked, or his
01:05friend Ban, played by Fred Nguyen Khan, for whom he willingly fought and survived.
01:11I don't think that it was necessary to cast Robert Downey Jr. in the role of several antagonists.
01:16I mean he was his handler from one side, mentor in college in America, a filmmaker, and a
01:21greedy politician.
01:23The point that I am making is that if these roles were played by different actors, it
01:27would have brought more color to the characters.
01:29Some would like it, but I love to see different people doing different roles.
01:33Anyway, Robert Downey Jr. is one of the producers of the show.
01:37But the idea of playing those several characters can also be due to the fact that during final
01:41days of the capture of the main lead, the amalgamation of different characters into
01:46one's mind, would be of ease.
01:49Now that we have established the ground rules of the series that worked, let's ponder
01:52on the weaker aspects of the show.
01:55The sad part is that the entire run time of the show failed to engage me with interest.
01:59The screenplay looked very heavy on one side, but appeared very poor from the execution
02:03point of view.
02:04It had everything but almost in every episode I would feel as to when that would end.
02:09I think the editing took a hit as the direction was fine.
02:12These minor adjustments could have been made to cut down the run time, and the show would
02:16have come out stronger.
02:18The other chief complaint that I have with the show and several others alike, is the
02:21fact that the goofy American humor that is part dark and part filthy, is taken and considered
02:27rich in the film fraternity nowadays.
02:29If you look at the dark humor of Guy Ritchie, the execution is neat and sways away from
02:34the filth, as much as it can.
02:36But in pure American dark humor, this filth is enriched and accepted as a norm.
02:42That to me is a shortcoming in the Hollywood adaptations.
02:45I think it would take another decade or so till the time many reviewers start pinpointing
02:49it.
02:50Until then, this is what you get as a decent Hollywood style dark humor, and so do enjoy it.
02:56The story does look like something of unfinished sort.
02:59And if you're wondering there is indeed a sequel to this novel written by the same author,
03:03and is available in the name, The Committed.
03:06There may be a slight chance that the sequel might arrive in the future.