‘MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE’ – THE RIGHT CHOICE

 

by: Josh Marks

 

 

 

Director Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs) has made a timely and taut political thriller in The Manchurian Candidate. The film is a remake of the John Frankenheimer classic starring Frank Sinatra as Major Bennet Marco. This time around Denzel Washington plays the role of Marco. The story has been updated to fit the times – the communists have been replaced by a multinational corporation. The great acting by Washington, Meryl Streep and Liev Schreiber rivals the original performances by Sinatra, Angela Lansbury and Laurence Harvey.

 

The opening scene takes place in Kuwait during the first Persian Gulf War. Marco and Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Schreiber) are in the same unit. They are ambushed and Shaw heroically saves the day. He receives a congressional medal of honor and with the help of his conniving and powerful mother, Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw (Streep), has political aspirations that lead all the way to the White House.

 

Marco has recurring nightmares about a very different set of events that transpired on that fateful night in the desert. The plot thickens as Marco looks for answers as to what actually happened to his unit and what the motivations were behind the “official” version of the story.

 

The one disappointing aspect to this movie that makes the story less plausible, besides the obvious brainwashing scenes, is that the subversive force trying to corrupt the democratic process and endanger the people is Manchurian Global Corporation. In my opinion, the real threat right now comes from Al Qaeda and similar terrorist organizations.  The movie only mentions terrorism in passing.  

 

This film is tightly structured with a great cast. The electioneering and political convention scenes have an eerily familiar quality as the real presidential campaign season is in full swing. Overall, The Manchurian Candidate is an enjoyable ride that keeps you guessing all the way to the end.