Review of The Manchurian Candidate (2004) by Amelita A — 16 Apr 2010

I have never seen the original version of "The Manchurian Candidate" by John Frankenheimer. I found out the setting was different (original was made in 1962), and the villain. This version seemed more real and possible, but still very sinister. Instead of Red Chinese Villains from the original, director Jonathan Demme uses corporate villains.

I will not write this review as a comparison with the original for two reasons. The first obviously because I haven't seen the orignal. Second because I found out that even though the premise is the same, it was still quite different and many critics found it irrelevant.

The premise is that Sen. Elanor Shaw has sold out her soul to the Manchurian Global Corp. Being a very influential mother and figure, she pushes her son Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) into the vice president candidacy. With a chip implanted to his skull, Raymond is controlled like a puppet by the Manchurian. The point is to make him the "first privately owned and operated vice president of the United States.".

All goes well, until two men try to make sense of their nightmares. These are Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) and Al Melvin (Jeffrey Wright). They are the two men who served in the Gulf War and are part of the team that was saved by Sgt. Shaw, who was awarded the Medal of Honor - thus starting his political career. The question that is asked is did Shaw really save their lives and deserve the Medal of Honor? This question really does keep us intrigued by the movie and is a real hook.

Ben Marco goes out to find out more about his nightmares. He finds out that all of his team use identical words to describe what happened in the war - as if they were told to say it. Shaw admits to Marco for remembering that the events happened, but not remembering that he actually did it. He has a hint that they were all brainwashed by the Manchurian to believe Shaw deserved the Medal of Honor.

The lead-up to the ending is tense and very well told. Demme already tells the audience that the soldiers were brainwashed by the Manchurian from early in the film. We know what they are trying to accomplish. But another figure rises to take control and the ending is very unexpected.

There has been numerous comparisons between Meryl Streep's interpretation of Mrs. Shaw and Sen. Hilary Clinton. I saw a slight similarity, but she has cited a few other political figures. Washington does an electrifying job as Marco, seeming disturbed, but not quite that - just confused and eager. Liev Schreiber does a good job as well, but Streep and Washington just chewed the screen.

We also wonder a lot of things relating to what happens on screen. Like when a woman named Rosie (Kimberly Elise) shows love interest to a obviously troubled Marco, why is she persistent on keeping in touch with him, and later accommodates him? There is also a great level of realistic conspiracy that you can relate directly to reality. It is brave of Demme to apply this to the movie; and ultimately succeed. Because of "The Manchurian Candidate", we have a lot to worry about the national security anywhere, and our own.

3 out of 4 stars.