The Manchurian Candidate Review

by Matt Noller (imgiphted AT bellsouth DOT net)
August 14th, 2004

The Manchurian Candidate
A film review by Matt Noller (www.uhmovies.co.nr)
Rating: ** (out of ****)

The original Manchurian Candidate is reportedly a masterpiece. I say reportedly because I haven't seen it, and am unable to report on its quality. A lot of people have complained about the film being remade, that such an act would reduce the original into nothing more than a rote thriller. Since I haven't seen the original, I can't compare them, but I can say with all honesty that 2004's The Manchurian Candidate doesn't need to be compared to the classic to be bad: it accomplishes that all on its own.
Replacing the original plot about Communist aggression is a revised and modernized story involving corporate corruption, or something. Apparently, Sgt. Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber), a Persian Gulf War hero and recepient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, is now the Vice President, overtaking the long-standing frontrunner (Jon Voight) in a seemingly random upset. But Captain Ben Marco (Denzel Washington), Shaw's superior officer in the war, has his doubts. Ever since their time in Kuwait, he's been having dreams that suggest Shaw may not be a hero after all, and that everyone's memories have been altered. He suspects it is part of a plot to put a controlled President in the White House, and that it somehow involves Shaw's Machiavellian mother, Eleanor (Meryl Streep).

It's all very complicated, and could make for a compelling motion picture. But the movie is just terribly, inexplicably dull. Not until the admittedly tense climax does the film pick up any sort of momentum, but by that time we've long since lost interest. The director is Jonathan Demme, the man who once won an Oscar for The Silence of the Lambs, one of the most tense and compelling movies of the nineties. I have no idea what happened here; all I know is that I looked at my watch on more than one occasion, and that 130 minutes is way, way too long.

Much of the reason, I think, is that the script is just sloppy There's a lot of awkward establishing material, including a number of clumsy set-up lines (paraphrased news footage: "And here's Sgt. Raymond Shaw, son of controversial Senator Eleanor Shaw, a man who once won the Congressional Medal of Honor for saving the lives of his entire unit in the Persian Gulf War" - an event we have just seen acted out). The plot advances in clunky bursts, repeatedly building up to mini-climaxes and then stopping the momentum in its tracks in order to build again. Only the final climax really works, but then the cop-out ending blows any good will the film may have earned.

The actors do all they can, but only one really stands out. Denzel Washington is fine, but nothing special; his character often comes off as irritating. I started to think he might just be nuts. Liev Schreiber is pretty dull for most of the film, but occasionally he hints at depths unexplored by the script. And then there's Meryl Streep, who is head and shoulders above the rest of the cast. As Eleanor, the best role in the film, Streep is passionate, domineering, and scary. This is one of the best performances of the year; there's hardly a scene with her that doesn't work.
The Manchurian Candidate, considering the pedigree of its predecessor, is a colossal disappointment. There's nothing here that hasn't been done better before. The only reason to see the film is Meryl Streep, and even that reward is a questionable payoff for sitting through the rest of this mess. If you need your thriller fix, just go see The Bourne Supremacy.

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