AmateurMovieReviews.com

For the second time in about a week, I watched a remake without having seen the original film. I recently wrote a review of the 1981 version of The Postman Always Rings Twice, and now I'm writing about 2004's The Manchurian Candidate, which is a remake of a 1962 film.

This latest version of The Manchurian Candidate stars Denzel Washington as a soldier Ben Marco. Marco served in the first Gulf War with a group of soldiers that included Sgt. Raymond Shaw (played by Liev Schrieber) and Al Melvin (Jeffrey Wright). As the film opens, the unit is in Kuwait where they're suddenly mobilized, presumably to engage the enemy. We never get to see what actually happens because we cut away from that time and return to the present.

It's not clear what Marco does after the war ends, but he's presumably still in the army because he's giving a speech to a couple of boy scout troops about his experiences in the war. He's recounting a harrowing story about his unit coming under heavy enemy fire, and how Sgt. Shaw saved them all by risking his own life. That bravery earned Shaw the Congressional Medal of Honor. Marco's speech sounds well-rehearsed, as though he's given it numerous times before.

As Marco is leaving, he's confronted by Melvin, who's obviously not doing very well. He looks dirty and bedraggled, and he soon reveals that he's been having nightmares about Kuwait. He presents Marco with a notebook filled with scary-looking drawings and copious diary entries of his memories from the war. Marco thinks Melvin is suffering from Gulf War Syndrome and recommends that he see someone at the VA hospital.

Next, we meet Sgt. Raymond Shaw. He has entered congress just like his father and mother before him. Though his father is dead, Shaw's mother, Eleanor Prentiss Shaw (Meryl Streep) is still a Senator and is throwing her weight around to make sure her boy wins her party's nomination for the Vice Presidency. Shaw is a powerful woman, so she gets her way.

As the movie progresses, we see that Marco is starting to have nightmares about Kuwait, just as Melvin did. He then starts remembering what happened, and the audience gets glimpses of mind control experiments. The soldiers are told what to say and everyone repeats the story of Shaw's bravery in unison. Marco realizes they were brainwashed, so he tries to get to Shaw to see if he knows anything about it.

The rest of the movie deals with Marco's attempts to prove that Shaw has an implant in his body and that other people are controlling his actions. Since Marco's story sounds so far-fetched, he runs into the usual roadblocks of people thinking he's crazy, paranoid, or both. But a sympathetic FBI agent believes him and tries to help him get the answers he's looking for.

Although the plot might sound a bit confusing here, it's rather easy to follow as it unfolds on the screen. In fact, I thought director Jonathan Demme was on the right track for about the first 30 minutes of the film. I was interested in what was happening, the brainwashing experiments looked suitably scary, and I wanted to see who was controlling Shaw.

But after that, the main storyline became less urgent and I didn't quite remember why Marco was rushing around or what he was trying to prove. In other words, there was no deadline (so to speak) for the action. Marco didn't absolutely have to stop Shaw by a certain day or time. He wasn't being outwardly pursued by anyone so he didn't have to try to clear his name or anything. There was no time constraint, which severely lessened the tension while I was watching the movie. I never had to worry, "Will he make it on time?" or "Will he be able to escape and prove his innocence?" The story just kind of ambled along.

The performances of the three main actors, Washington, Schrieber, and Streep, were very good, but they weren't enough to make the movie worth watching for me. Overall, I thought the basic premise of The Manchurian Candidate was interesting enough, but the details needed some work. As a result, I don't recommend that you watch this film.