| THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE |
 2004 - USADirector: Jonathan Demme
- Reviewed by Linda
Currently ranked in the top 100 films on the IMDb, the original 1962 Cold War political thriller The Manchurian Candidate—a gripping and more than a little scary film starring Frank Sinatra, Lawrence Harvey, and the unforgettable Angela Lansbury—was buried for years because of controversy over its subject matter (brainwashing, war, politics), and whether it influenced Lee Harvey Oswald in the Kennedy assasination. The film was barely seen for over 20 years until it was finally rereleased in 1988. Now Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs) has given the eerily timeless story a makeover and an update. Raymond Prentiss Shaw (Liev Schreiber) is a young Gulf War hero who has been swept into the vice-presidential nomination slot for an unnamed political party (the party sometimes mirrors the Democrats, and other times the Republicans). A recipient of the Medal of Honor for saving the lives of his unit during an ambush in Kuwait, his personal and political pedigree is flawless. It doesn't hurt that he comes from an old-school political family, being the son of two senators, his father deceased, and his mother, the ballsy Eleanor Prentiss Shaw (Meryl Streep), a powerful mover and shaker in her own right. Now excuse me for a second. I just have to say that no one can chew ice cubes like Meryl Streep. A shark of a politician (not to mention a bit of a domineering and doting mother), Meryl's "Ellie" Shaw commands the room, whipping the men and women around her into submission. At times over-the-top while still being electrifying, Meryl sinks her teeth (no pun intended) into the role that Angela Lansbury nailed in the original film. She is having a field day, and is a hoot and a horror to watch. There is one scene in particular with Ellie and Raymond that had the audience squirm in a panic of "Oh, dear lord, please, don't go there...!" Let's just say you may as well hand Meryl the Oscar nomination now. Back to the story: Raymond's quick ascendance to power troubles his old army commander, Maj. Bennett Marco (Denzel Washington), whose career has deteriorated to speaking to school groups and scouts about the bravery of Shaw in the line of fire, while at the same time having troubling nightmares about the validity of his own memories of the ambush. His supressed memories are triggered by a visit by another soldier from his command (the always excellent Jeffrey Wright), whose mental deterioration over the years matches his own. Something ain't right, and Marco begins to wonder if, instead of being in a battle, he and his men were all captured and brainwashed. By the enemy government? By their own people? By the suspicious corporate conglomerate Manchurian Global, that seems to be ever-present behind the scenes of the U.S. government? Clues are unveiled and paranoia ensues. Marco decides that the truth needs to be known before Shaw gains too much political power. The new Manchurian Candidate fleshes out the story in new directions, while adding bits and pieces that weren't in the original. It feels independent enough from the original film, so much so that during the climax, I gasped with the audience at plot twists that I had forgotten. But it takes its time getting there. The final half hour makes you forget that much of the center of the film was sluggish, and some clues might have been given away too early on. It is the powerhouse acting by the trio of Washington, Streep, and Schreiber that keep your mind from wandering. Although it is not the masterpiece that the original film was, this contemporary version of The Manchurian Candidate still holds an impressive amount of power. I couldn't help but notice the surprising amount of low ratings (a slew of 1's) on the IMDb before the film had even been released, despite the overall positive reviews from critics. It seems that in the era of Fahrenheit 9/11, the political climate of 2004 is so hotly charged that people whom haven't seen the film assume The Manchurian Candidate is a similar left-wing diatribe against the Bush administration. Whether you conclude that it is a left-wing diatribe or not, hopefully, like Fahrenheit, this film will just remind you to pay a little closer attention to what the government is up to these days. |
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It is always a questionable choice to remake a classic film that arguably can not be improved upon.
