"The Manchurian Candidate" is a solid thriller that is just unfortunate to be living in the shadow of a superior film, the original "Manchurian Candidate," made 40 years before this. In it's time, the original was ground-breaking. It re-created the thriller and caused massive amounts of controversy. No film made today could have such an impact, and that is why "The Manchurian Candidate" fails to be what it should be.

I must give props to director Jonathan Demme, and his screenwriters. Rather than copy the original, they re-imagine it. There are new twists. Characters are slightly different. The entire premise has a more technological twist. I must also congratulate Denzel Washington on his role as Ben Marco. The role was played by Frank Sinatra in the original, and Washington does his performance differently, but equally. Meryl Streep takes over Angela Lansbury's old role. Lansbury made one of the most chilling villains in film history, and Streep never tries to copy her. She is excellent here, and manages to avoid comparisons with Lansbury (this may be because she was open about not watching the original for inspiration). Rounding out the cast is Liev Schrieber as Raymond Shaw. Schrieber is an excellent, underlooked actor, and he does just as much with the role as Laurence Harvey did in the original. I will also take this time to congratulate the cinematographer and editor. The film is technically beautiful. The movie looks great, is acted well, and is often thrilling. The only thing wrong is a terrible redone version of "Fortunate Son" played over the opening and end credits.

What's wrong then?

What's wrong, is that the film thinks that it is groundbreaking and shocking. It thinks that it is doing something that no film has done before. It thinks, it is the original "Manchurian Candidate." The original dealt with conspiracies, brain washing, terrifying plans against America, and other themes that were new and scary at the time (and still come off as so to the modern viewer). The problem is that these have been seen so many times in so many different ways since then, that when we learn about what's going on, we aren't too surprised. Intrigued yes, but not surprised. The remake also takes the easy way out. Many of the more interesting elements of the orginal have been either dulled or completely changed. Like Marco's love interest, who was a red herring in the original, but actually has a part to play here.

If I had not seen the original, this would be a B+ film, or even an A-. Having seen it, the film is more of a B-. I could try to judge the film by itself, but when you remake a film that is as important as "The Manchurian Candidate," you have to expect that it will lie in the shadow of it. I'd say the grade rounds out to a solid B. This is a film that is worthy of your time and money, and I even recommend it to fans of the original. But you must remember going in: this is "The Manchurian Candidate" in name only.

© Written by Jacob Hall

How We Rated This Film TC Candler - C+ Richard Propes - B Jacob Hall - B

TC Candler's Comment

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Richard Propes' Comment

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