Review of The Manchurian Candidate (2004) by Jc E — 22 Feb 2011

Having seen this re-imagining of the 1962 original before, it was interesting to go back, watch said original, and then follow it up with this again. Honestly - and I hate to say this, because I pretty much loathe anything political involving Meryl Streep (Evening) - this is the better film.

Sure, having Liev Schreiber (Salt) try to fill Laurence Harvey's big shoes was tough, but Denzel Washington (The Book of Eli) fills Frank Sinatra's quite well - regardless of any affirmative action at work.

However, even though I'm pretty sure Streep has her own Communist tendencies, she doesn't own the role of Shaw's estrogenically tyrannical mother the way Angela Lansbury did. Plus, the filmmakers tried to re-imagine her as a corporate hack rather than a Commie.

Don't get me wrong, she channels Hillary Clinton quite well, but not to the diabolical level of Lansbury in the original. Still, it's not as blasphemous - that is, anti-McCarthy - as the original, and thereby a bit more enjoyable.

It still has some political commentary, but it's more of a thriller than a preachy political movie.