The Manchurian Candidate

I vaguely remember seeing the original Manchurian Candidate several years ago and thinking it was pretty cool.  When I heard that there was to be a remake of the original 1962 film, I was indifferent since the original wasn't a film beloved by me.  As a fan of film in general I was disappointed that a bunch of money was once again being thrown at a remake when there are so many great original stories out there waiting to be made.  On the other hand, some great stories already made could be relevant today if they are updated a bit.

This film has the makings of something amazing with A list filmmakers and cast behind it.  The film stars Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schrieber, and Jon Voight, and is directed by Jonathan Demme, the man who directed one of my all time favorite films: Silence of the Lambs.  The authors of the screenplay however have more dubious credits including the last Tomb Raider film and Any Given Sunday.

Major Ben Marco (Washington) is having trouble sleeping and when he does he is tormented by dreams of a Gulf War event that has plagued him for over a dozen years.  His platoon was ambushed in the Kuwaiti desert.  He knows that Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Schrieber) fought off the attackers single handedly saving all but two members of his platoon.  But his dreams tell him that something very different happened.

Marco has come to believe that he and his platoon have undergone some sort of mind control procedure.  Every member of the platoon remembers the events of that night exactly the same, word for word.  He lives on "No-doze" and covers his messy apartment with articles about Shaw's life.  After being confronted by a member of his platoon who is suffering from the same dreams and learning that Shaw is in the running for Vice President Marco thinks something larger than he had initially believed is truly at work and he expands his investigation.

Marco meets a young woman, Rosie (Kimberly Elise) on a train who recognizes him from the grocery store where he shops and she works.  She invites him to her cousin's apartment to freshen up.  While there, Marco discovers an implant in his shoulder!

At the same time Shaw is being pushed into the position of Vice President by his overbearing Senator mother Eleanor Shaw (Streep).  She is a powerhouse Senator determined to put her son in a position that she was never allowed to have. 

One of the things that Demme as a director is best at is creating characters the audience can identify with and care about.  In Silence of the Lambs the character of Clarice Starling played by Jodie Foster was intelligent, strong, and determined, but at the same time she was nervous and fragile.  Demme delivered her character to us a little at a time so that we didn't know everything about her like he had just read her biography we actually got to know her, and care about her throughout the film.  He successfully does this again with the character of Marco in The Manchurian Candidate.  Marco is smart but at the same time he has become so conflicted about what happened that one night during the Gulf War that it has clouded his mind a bit.  He often seems disoriented and unable to share his thoughts in the most intelligent of ways.  He's tormented, he's scared, and he's sleep deprived.  He's a fascinating and flawed character.

Eleanor Shaw is another scene stealing character.  In a scant few bits of dialogue we are able to learn that she feels denied and disappointed by her now dead husband.  She comes from a political family and she never reached the level she feels she should have.  We also learn that she has unending confidence in her son and will go to any length to see him in the position that she feels her husband should have been in and indirectly she would have been in.  She had odd chemistry with her son since he too is plagued by the events of the Gulf War he has become easy to manipulate but deep down in a place he can't reach he knows that something is wrong.  So he loves her, but he resents her at the same time.

The two above mentioned characters make the film worth seeing period.  The character of Raymond Shaw is interesting in that he is fighting within himself and with those around him but Schrieber is imperfect in the role.  There are times when he nails it with a simple facial expression but there are other times when he is in a scene that should be intense and suspenseful that actually plays a bit humorous.

This leads me to one of the problems I had with the film.  The Manchurian Candidate is categorized as a thriller.  So I expect to be on the edge of my seat the whole time.  I was hardly on the edge of my seat at any point in the film.  I wanted to see what would happen next with the characters but I never felt any suspense.  That aspect of the film simply read flat to me.

The other problem I had with the film is the character of Rosie.  From the first minute we see her on the train we know what her part is in the story.  She is played in the film a bit to obvious.  I don't believe it is the fault of the actress, I believe this comes from the Directing of the film. 

These problems could have been solved if they had just slowed the pacing of the film down a bit.  The story kicks in right after the opening credits and most of the mystery is revealed in the first act.  A little more character development and a slower pace would have worked wonders for this film.  There is one secondary character who is simply a plot device.  He is a friend of Marco's who lives like a hermit and is a scientist.  this character and that of Rosie could have used more work in the writing stage.

The film isn't quite by the numbers though.  Eleanor offers some shocking turns at the end (especially if you haven't seen the original) and the suspense kicks in a bit for the last act.  There is a poignant last sequence in the film as well.  The Manchurian Candidate is definitely well acted, it just needed a little more work on the suspense and on the secondary characters.  It's a serviceable mystery/thriller but it won't be a classic the way the original is.

6. 5/10

-Stephen Lackey

The Manchurian Candidate

Directed by Jonathan Demme

Starring: Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schrieber, Jon Voight

Review: 6.5/10

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