The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Jonathan Demme

Writers (WGA):

Richard Condon (novel)
George Axelrod (1962 screenplay)

Release Date:

30 July 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

This summer everything is under control.

Plot:

In the midst of the Gulf War, soldiers are kidnapped and brainwashed for sinister purposes.

Plot Keywords:

Gulf War | Soldier | Kuwait | War Hero | Persian Gulf

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 6 nominations

Cast

Jeffrey Wright	...	Al Melvin
Pablo Schreiber	...	Eddie Ingram
Anthony Mackie	...	Robert Baker
Dorian Missick	...	Owens
Jose Pablo Cantillo	...	Villalobos
Teddy Dunn	...	Wilson
Joaquin Perez-Campbell	...	Atkins
Tim Artz	...	Jameson
Denzel Washington	...	Ben Marco
Robyn Hitchcock	...	Laurent Tokar
Liev Schreiber	...	Raymond Shaw
Antoine Taylor	...	Boy Scout #1
Joseph Alessi	...	Boy Scout #2
Raymond Anthony Thomas	...	Scout Dad (as Ray Anthony Thomas)
Bill Irwin	...	Scoutmaster

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and some language.

Runtime:

USA:129 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18PL (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut) | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #40839) | Canada:14A

Filming Locations:

Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Production Assistant Chris Rodriguez's photo is used on the front page of the newspaper that Kimberly Elise picks up on the train, under the caption, "Muslim Yale student murdered by angry mob."

Goofs:

Continuity: The civilian guide in Kuwait is listed in the credits as "Laurent Tokar," but both the newscast that announces Shaw's nomination and the newscast describing Tokar's arrest at the end of the film call him "Laurence Tokar."

Quotes:

Ben Marco: What about my dreams?
Delp: What if all this is your dream and you are really still back in Kuwait?

Movie Connections:

Features Apollo 13 (1995)

Soundtrack:

Better Things

Senator Streep

The one and only reason to see this new and much weaker Manchurian Candidate is Meryl Streep. The little space allocated to her character makes the film rise to undeserving levels. True, I would pay to see Meryl Streep do the weather but that's quite besides the point. Even so, the memory of Angela Lansbury's performance in the role towers over Meryl Streep's, mostly because the original Frankenheimer's Manchurian Candidte towers over Demme's. What a silly idea, really. To update the story doesn't contribute a thing to the results. No matter how many monitor screens and details about the experiment we're let into. We, quite simply, don't care. We care about the drama of that mother and son. Of the soldier's and their nightmares. But those elements are treated in a sketchy, sluggish way. Frank Sinatra gave a sterling performance in the original and we believed in his torment. Here Denzel Washington floats throughout the film without giving us the chance to connect the dots of his journey. Liev Schriver is a credible Raymond Shaw but the script doesn't help him to go where Laurence Harvey had ventured. After "The Truth About Charlie" I was fearful of what Jonathan Demme (the great man behind "Silence of the Lambs") would do with this classic black comedy but I went to see it anyway, because Meryl Streep was in it and because it was Demme again working with Dean Stockwell after that lovely romp they did together "Married to the Mob" but Stockell's work in Manchurian Candidate, how can I put it? If you blink you miss it. How strange. How disappointing. However, the scenes with Senator Meryl Streep are worth the price of admission.