Manchurian Canidate Review Thread

[Jack]

While it may not live up to the original, or even the calibur of the cast and director at hand, The Manchurian Canidate is a fairly intense thriller, with dashes of horror, suspense, and a good deal of saitire thrown into the mix. I won't go into the plot, but don't worry, the previews don't give away as much as you may believe...

The cast is obviously impressive, however the result is a mixed bag. I thought Denzel was fine, but didn't really break any new ground as far as his acting abilities go. I really enjoyed Liev Schrieber, he is constantly creepy and brooding, yet still likable when he smiles. It's very believable to see how his character could be a loose wire and a lovable politican to millions at the same time. Meryl Streep as the infamous "mother" walks a very fine line between playing an insane character and over-acting. I enjoyed her performance, but it can become laughable at times. I never felt a real sense of sinister at work with her character (except for one scene, it's the only time when she speaks that sounds like she's not about to rip off some one's head off and eat it. You'll know it when you hear the right words...).

Demme shows his style with some of the very twisted "brain-washing" sequences. I was caught a little off-gaurd by how graphic it is at times (forgot this was the same man who brought us Silence of the Lambs), and it has some of the more genuinely disturbing imagery I have seen for a while. I personally loved this stuff, but I could tell some people in the audience were turned off by it.

I really enjoyed how bizzare this film was, but at the same time it does get a tad over-the-top. Between the X amount of twists and Meryl Streep stomping around, it's hard not to chuckle at it sometimes. It can be uneven as well, bouncing from drama to gross out horror in minutes.

There are, of course, some pretty obvious plays on our current administration, the campaign for 2004, and simply the times we live in today. I personally enjoyed them for what they were, but some may not, or just not notice them (as many people tend to do). You could spin the saitire towards ethier political party I think, but one cameo in the film kind of gives away where they stand.

I do recomend it, it's a fun time at the movies, that gives your brain a few conspiracies to chew on. Just be able to play along with it at times.

[Don Taylor]

dman u beat me, i saw it thought it was good ill give it a 8/10

[droidguy1119]

I'm seeing it Friday.

[WuTical]

im seeing this on monday
can't wait

[Oj]

I just got back from this one. It was an outstanding film, but some story points didn't seem to be as fleshed out as they should have been. That aside, everything else about the film was terrific. Denzel and Streep both give expectedly fabulous performances, and Schreiber is surprisingly able to keep up with them. The music in the film does wonders to add another layer of paranoia to the tone. This is definitely the best film released this summer (so far) and easily one of the best of the year.

***½

[droidguy1119]

Surprisingly? Liev Schrieber is a great actor.

[Oj]

I guess I just haven't seen him in much. The only other movie that comes to mind is Sphere.

[droidguy1119]

The Sum of All Fears he was good in.

[Mat]

Brainwashing and political manipulation are back in a big way in Jonathan Demme’s retread of the 1962 classic The Manchurian Candidate. I call it a retread because it isn’t a scene by scene remake ala Van Sant’s Psycho; it’s merely a retread and reformation of the themes to fit today’s society. It’s implications are as frightening today as the original was back in the 60’s. Fear of terrorists and corporations reign supreme in our society as opposed to commies in the 60’s, and Demme’s updated version adds the same biting satire and air of paranoia that made the original great. This is a great movie too, and it adds it’s own visual flairs and unique plot twists to separate itself from the original classic.

Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) is having terrible dreams. He dreams that his Army unit during the Gulf War, which was supposedly heroically saved by political heir apparent Raymond Shaw (Liev Schrieber) , was captured and experimented on by scientists for some unknown purpose. The other soldiers are having the same nightmares and disappearing in strange ways. Marco intends to untangle the web of conspiracy that involves Raymond’s ambitious mother, Senator Eleanor Shaw (Meryl Streep); the liberal-minded Senator Thomas Jordan (John Voight); and girl he randomly meets, Rose (Kimberly Elise). If you know the original Candidate you probably know what’s going to happen, but Demme throws a wrench in that is quite interesting and may even catch fans of the original off guard.

The Manchurian Candidate is surely Demme’s best work since The Silence of the Lambs and it shows much of the skilled craftsmanship that was displayed in that modern classic. Cinematographer Tak Fujimoto returns to Demme’s side with some beautiful camera work and the lighting is top notch. I love when the soldiers go into “zombie mode” how the whole set lightens up as they lose their perception on reality.

Screenwriters Daniel Pyne and Dean Georgaris add bits of political satire here and there. It’s also interesting that this movie is released in-between current political conventions. The slogan slinging and theatricality of the politicians is amusing and kind of frightening in it’s own way. The thriller aspect of the film is what it’s selling point, and it works extremely well.

The performances are very impressive to the point that they could invoke Oscar nominations around the first of next year. Denzel’s Major Marco is his best performance just as Sinatra’s Marco was his best performance. Meryl Streep will probably get nominated for her performance as Shaw’s mother because the Academy just likes to nominate her for the hell of it most of the time. She’s good in the role, but no Angela Lansbury. Liev Schreiber is an often overlooked actor, but delivers quite well as Shaw.

Many people find that remaking this classic is unnecessary. Well there are no real necessary reasons to make any movie in the first place. This is a smart political thriller with satirical fringes just as the original classic was. I don’t think Demme dishonored classic with this film. He just reformed it to make it work under modern circumstances, and, most frightening of all, it is actually relevant.

[droidguy1119]

The Manchurian Candidate - Review Thread

http://img17.photobucket.com/albums/v51/droidguy1119/manchurian_candidate.jpg

Trailers
Trailer 1 http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/the_manchurian_candidate/manchurian_large_t.html
Trailer 2 http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/the_manchurian_candidate/manchurian_large.html
TV Spot http://download.ifilm.com/qt/portal/2644193_200.mov

Synopsis
In the remake of the 1962 political classic, Denzel Washington plays army major Bennett Marco, who is having terrible nightmares about something that happened while he and Squad Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schrieber) were in Desert Storm. When Shaw becomes a candidate for Vice President, Marco becomes suspicious about Shaw and his mother, Senator Eleanor Shaw (Meryl Streep), and takes matters into his own hands.

Official Website
www.manchuriancandidatemovie.com

July 30th, 2004

http://img17.photobucket.com/albums/v51/droidguy1119/manchuriancandidate5.jpg

The Manchurian Candidate
A Review by Tyler Foster
for www.funkdiggityfresh.com

Directors have stirred many things within me during great films. If there's an emotion you can think of, a director has probably gotten me to feel that, somehow. But never before The Manchurian Candidate have I ever felt so uneasy, so unsafe by the things I was being shown. Most of the scenes fade out before they end, and we feel just like Major Bennett Marco -- like a higher power's got control, they've erased something, and it could have been deadly important.

The Manchurian Candidate 2004 is an effective, smart and edgy thriller with great performances. It's not quite as good as the original -- the very definition of a performance piece -- but it's still great. And when thrown under the remake lens, Manchurian 2004 turns out even better, a movie that truly takes the ideas and concepts of something that came before it and explores them, turns them inside out and reassembles them instead of just milking them and throwing on a contemporary coat of gloss.

The plot follows Major Bennett Marco (Denzel Washington), who is confronted by a man from his Desert Storm patrol. The man reveals he's been having unsettling dreams about Kuwait, and, secretly, so is Marco. They revolve around Raymond Shaw, a man who is currently in the Vice Presidential race. Shaw was awarded the Medal of Honor for saving Marco's patrol, but did he really, or did someone get inside their heads and change something?

The performances of Washington and Schrieber are different than the originals, because it's a different movie. The plot throws in new nuances that redefine the characters, and the two actors run with it excellently. Sinatra's Marco was aware, concerned, and hoping Shaw would pull through. Washington's Marco is driven to discover the truth, expecting people to jump out of the shadows, and absolutely, positively convinced that his missing memories are a life-and-death matter. Liev Schrieber's Shaw, on the other hand, is more conflicted. Lawrence Harvey made a Shaw that knew his life was on a downhill slide, who knew his world was being controlled and hated it. Schrieber knows the same thing, but he's more conflicted, looking for a way out, wanting to grasp the rope that will take him somwhere else in life. Both performances are top-notch, and drive the movie to a stunning conclusion.

The supporting cast is less sure. Meryl Streep's version of Eleanor Shaw is good, ruthless, and cold, but she has moments where she seems too much of an easy target, something nobody would have ever said of Angela Lansbury. Still, Streep has many good moments, and we actually see that thing that drives her character, in a few brief moments: fear. On the other hand, I would have truly loved to see much, much more of Jon Voight. His performance in his small scenes are truly brilliant, and it seems if he'd had more to do he could have easily secured an Oscar.

The writers, Daniel Pyne and Dean Georgaris don't have a very impressive resume (most recently, The Sum of All Fears and Paycheck, respectively), but their work here is one of the big keys to making Manchurian '04 worth watching. If you've seen the original, then you'll have a head start, but there are tons of little innovations and changes around the concepts provided by George Axelrod's original script and Richard Condon's book that the movie will pull the rug out from under you quite a few times.

Jonathan Demme is the one, however, to truly commend for The Manchurian Candidate. His atmosphere, style, and sense of pace are what make The Manchurian Candidate so gripping to watch. In the hands of someone less skilled, this could have been any political thriller, something cheesy you watch on HBO at 12:30 in the morning. There are so many margins for error in the movie that it's amazing to watch Demme take one sure-footed step after another.

If there are flaws, it's less this movie's fault than the 1962 original's, because that's a very high bar to reach. I missed things from that movie, such as the solitaire, and the romance story. The 2004 version also has a rather goofy addition of some sort of robed women in the possession room...see it and you'll understand. I really didn't get it.

Still, this movie is an excellent and well-done thriller. The Manchurian Candidate 2004 is a triumph of remakes, atmosphere, writing, direction and performances, and it's only flaw is the even better triumph it has to live up to. Rent the original, then catch the remake, and in between, why don't you shake that awful feeling of paranoia, and pass the time by playing a little solitaire?

Score: 9/10

Starring Denzel Washington, Liev Schrieber, Meryl Streep, Jon Voight, Kimberly Elise, and Ted Levine
Directed by Jonathan Demme
108 Minutes/Paramount Pictures, 2004
Rated R for violence and some language

[Mat]

Yeah I missed some of the ambiguity with the Janet Leigh character in the original. Here she has more of a purpose in the new one, but it's not as mysterious or fun

[droidguy1119]

I dunno. One nitpick I had about the original was why Janet Leigh got higher billing than Angela Lansbury...

[Hitman]

The acting was top-notch, especially on Denzel and Meryl Streep's part but it wasn't all that thrilling. Like in that preview where you hear something like "the audience won't be able to exhale during the last 30 minutes". Oh yeah sure. That's a load of bull. It was just an average political thriller with exceptional acting and nice directing. The plot, as bizarre as it was, is actually easy to follow and the fact that it could really happen adds a slight intensity to it. If you're reading this and decide you're going to see this movie, take my advice and either sneak in or go to a twilite show. You can thank me later.

[youthinasia]

The acting was top-notch, especially on Denzel and Meryl Streep's part but it wasn't all that thrilling. Like in that preview where you hear something like "the audience won't be able to exhale during the last 30 minutes". Oh yeah sure. That's a load of bull. It was just an average political thriller with exceptional acting and nice directing. The plot, as bizarre as it was, is actually easy to follow and the fact that it could really happen adds a slight intensity to it. If you're reading this and decide you're going to see this movie, take my advice and either sneak in or go to a twilite show. You can thank me later.
I def thought it was good, but I also agree that the last 30 minutes wasn't as breathtaking as people were saying. I would say that it was a good movie worth my money, though. Only true complaint I had is that I got there too late to get a good seat...my own fault :angry:

[St.MaartenGyal]

I really enjoyed this movie. It pleases me to be able to say that because I have not been able to utter those words in reference to any other movie this summer.

I agree, Meryl was at times a bit much, but it still worked because it simply reiterated her fanaticism and her ruthlessness for getting her son into that VP position. Denzel was great as always, and Kimberly Elise was good too. Liev Schreiber, however, did wonderfully with switching between his two roles. The impression I gathered was that he was, subconsciously, fighting the changes and events occurring in his brain. One scene that got me thinking this was at the party, where he greets Denzel and continues walking, then says "I need to talk to you." As though he had something to share.

There were the obvious pokes at the election race currently being run, and I swore I had heard some of those same words that Shaw utters at the convention in a speech given by either Bush or Kerry. lol It was just too familiar.

Schreiber has always been a favorite of mine, I guess because he looks handsome in a stern way. I felt so sorry for him, because none of this was his fault.

Great movie, I would definitely buy it on DVD.

[Kitty]

i just saw the movie earlier and it was worth my money. 9/10

[Wildbill]

My Manchurian Candidate (http://wildbilld.brinkster.net) rating was posted last week in case anyone missed it.

[Radiohead]

loved it. one of the best movies i saw all year long.

9/10.

[soylentmcmuffin]

9/10

You know what disturbed me, though? The concept of 'privately owned' military units, something Manchurian Global was tweaking on, as mentioned by a reporter in the film. That better never happen is all I have to say. My freedom in the hands of Greed, Inc. :nono:

[TombRaider17]

8.5/10

My rating might go up if I see it again (what I thought was a plothole was explained to me). Still, amazing performances (the entire cast shines, but Meryl Streep is a knockout!), an intricate and thoroughly interesting plot, and alot of suspense. I'd easily recommend it, but definitely not for people who want mindless fun.

[lowfive]

Does Anyone Know Where I Can Get The Soundtrack For This Flick???? Ive Been Looking For Two Weeks! Im Dyinig To Get The Wyclef Jean Cover On Cd!!!!!!!!!!

[evildeadfan]

i just saw it it was one of the bestfilms
of the year so far so i give it 9.5/10

[WuTical]

still havent seen this

gonna try and see it during the week hopefully

[FVD]

Well I'm off to rent the original as I haven't seen it before. This sounds like a great film. I look forward to seeing it.

As far as the remake is concerned, I'm not sure when the movie is scheduled to hit NZ but I'll certainly be looking forward to it. It's gotten great reviews thus far and on another note regarding Denzel. Man On Fire was brilliant. Just saw it last week.

FVD.

[Sora Kahn]

I saw this movie today and I loved it. Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, and Liev Schrieber's performances were top notch. This film was definitely one of the best films I've seen this year. I give The Mancharian Candidate:

9/10