Review of The Manchurian Candidate (2004) by Tyler M — 31 Mar 2012

WOW! A solid political thriller with powerful performances, and a lot of style.

The Story: Raymond Shaw single handedly saves his army unit in the gulf war, and becomes a vice presidential nominee years later. A fellow soldier, Ben Marco, begins to dream of the incident that got Raymond his war hero status, tension builds as Bens dreams become more realistic than his memories. The clock is ticking as he desperately tries to find the answers to all the questions that have surfaced from his recurring nightmares...Okay, I hope that was a decent synopsis. I had a hell of a time trying to figure out just how to word the story for this film for some reason...So, I apologize if it wasn't good enough for you...And if it's not good enough, than that's more of a personal problem for you than me.... Below looks like a big empty space, but it's actually another version of my synopsis. It includes a spoiler though, so if you don't want to read it, just scroll keep scrolling down.

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A military unit is kidnapped and brainwashed during the Gulf War. They're hypnotized and conditioned into thinking that one man, Raymond Shaw, single handedly saved them during an attack on the unit. Years pass and Shaw has followed in his fathers and more importantly his mothers footsteps and turned into a respected politician, and becomes a nominee for vice-president. When other soldiers of his unit begin to dream about the incedent, a massive political conspiracy unfolds....Was that one any better? Well, between the two of them you should be able to make some sense of things...

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The Cast: Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber...These two have more power than you can possibly believe. And that's important in a film all about power. Denzel Washington delivers one of his best performances here, playing naive, intelligent, and a little bit crazy all at the same time. If you weren't a fan before than prepare to be a fan after you see this because he's that good here. Liev Schreiber is perhapse one of the most underated actors ever. He's been in a ton of movies, but ya know what? I haven't seen more than 3 of them. And I really wish I'd seen more because he's amazing. Giving an Oscar calibur performance as Raymond Shaw. He plays childlike and athoratative at the same time. Demanding power but being controlled at the same time is something a lot of actors only wish they could do successfully. These two bring this film to life like no other. You won't be dissapointed by either one, I guarantee it.

One to Five Scale: 4.

It's undeniably stylish, with a lot of bright light and contrasting colors, this film simply looks amazing. It's a solid political thriller, with powerfull performances. There's a few things that seem a little confusing to me even after multiple views, a couple of characters that play integral parts don't have much backstory and it shows, mainly Bens german friend...Maybe I just missed something but it lost me a couple of times. A definite must-see for any fan of Washington or Schreiber.

Tyler.