Review of The Manchurian Candidate (1962) by Justin M — 22 Aug 2008

One of those suspense films where each scene is superior to the one preceding it. That Sinatra sure is a fuck up, though. "Well, I could take him in and deprogram him... but surely LOVE will prevail." You idiot.

Upon the second watching, I was feeling that I had overrated this film throughout the first 80 or so minutes when the film is somewhat slow. But when the plot in this one comes together, then I realized that this wasn't simply a good film, but legitimately a great one. And Angela Lansbury (who I'm sure must have looked 60 years old when she was a teenager) gives one of "those" performances. You've seen them, and you know what I'm talking about. She gives one of the most powerful performances I've ever seen, playing one of the best antagonists I've ever seen, exuding screen presence like nobody's business. It was simply an acting clinic, and one of the all-time great performances I have ever witnessed. So at the 80 minute mark, I was thinking that maybe this wasn't a 5-star movie. At the 2 hour mark, I realized how very wrong I was. This is one of the best suspense movies ever made.