MovieChat Forums > Body of Lies (2008) Discussion > Just an updated version of The Ugly Amer...

Just an updated version of The Ugly American

posted 15 years ago by rspear61
1 reply | jump to latest

For those of you too young to remember, we already have the epitome of portraying the arrogant, clueless Americans in a foreign land. Its called The Ugly American. This movie is just a re-hash of the same old complaint about American foreign service.

"We're going to need a bigger boat..."

[–] meldrone 15 years ago

No, not a sensible comparison. The Ugly American himself was a good, non-clueless guy. The ambitions America was up against were specific nationalism. In Body of Lies the 'enemy' was vastly more complicated. The concept of disposable assets was much more harshly presented in Body of Lies. American was fairly benign in the Ugly American, by comparison.