I heard of the movie The Manchurian Candidate several years ago, but I didn’t know anything about the plot. A few years ago, I read a book that mentioned the book version of The Manchurian Candidate and explained the plot a bit. It did sound interesting to me, but I didn’t track down the book. For the last few months I have been seeing previews for a new version of the movie staring Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep. I decided that I wanted to see this version of The Manchurian Candidate.

In 1991, Ben Marco was stationed in Kuwait. He was leading a small unit. They had to go into enemy territory. There was an ambush and Ben was knocked out. Raymond Shaw was able to fight off the enemy alone and lead the unit to safety. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Several years later, Ben was still in the military. He had been having a strange dream about the time in Kuwait after the ambush. He had the same dream every night. He did a few other strange things as well. One of the men from his unit, Al Melvin, talked to Ben one day. Al had been having the same dream. He was upset about the dream. Ben started trying to figure out what was going on.

Raymond Shaw was no longer in the military. He was a senator, like his mother Eleanor. His father had also been in the Senate before his death. He and his mother were at a convention where the candidate for vice president would be selected. Raymond said he was happy in the Senate, but Eleanor had bigger plans for her son. She pushed hard to get him added to the ticket even though he was mostly unknown outside of his home state. People were surprised when Raymond was picked to run with Anderson instead of Senator Thomas Jordan. Ben decided that he wanted to talk to Raymond. The two men did talk briefly. Raymond seemed concerned that Ben had some sort of mental problem and wanted to do something to help, though he didn’t believe the story Ben told about the dream.

Raymond shared the story with his mother, who was very upset. She saw Ben as a threat to Raymond. She was determined that he become the next vice president. Ben started to remember other things from the time in Kuwait. He got a bit closer to a woman named Rosie that seemed to be trying to help him. Ben tracked down more information that seemed to back up his theory. He discovered a connection to Manchurian Global, a huge corporation. Raymond saw Jocelyn, a woman he’d dated several years before. Their relationship ended with some help from Eleanor. Jocelyn was Thomas Jordan’s daughter. Raymond was having some concerns, which caused Eleanor to do something drastic as the election was getting closer.

CAST

Denzel Washington - Ben Marco
Meryl Streep - Eleanor Shaw
Liev Schreiber - Raymond Shaw
Kimberly Elise - Rosie
Vera Farmiga - Jocelyn Jordan
Jon Voight - Senator Thomas Jordan
David Keeley - Anderson

The Manchurian Candidate was directed by Jonathan Demme. The movie was released on June 30, 2004. It was rated R and 130 minutes long. The movie was based on the book of the same name by Richard Condon. I haven’t read the book, though I did almost buy it last week. I am pretty sure that I will get the book now. There was a version of this movie made in 1962 that starred Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury. I haven’t seen that version of the movie yet, but I do want to see it too. I do know that a few things were changed for this version of the movie. This isn’t a movie for children to see.

The Manchurian Candidate was a thriller. I thought that the movie was suspenseful. There were many times when I wasn’t sure what would happen next. I did figure a few things out, but only a minute or two before they happened. A character gave a look that tipped me off once time. Another time, a character turned up somewhere and I just knew what the outcome would be. I had a basic idea of what was going on because I knew some things about the original movie and the book, but I still found the movie very interesting and entertaining. There were a few surprises for me. There was some mystery in the movie related to the dreams Ben was having. The mystery really wasn’t that complex, but it was interesting to me. I do think that a few of the previews shared just a little too much about what was going on in the movie. There are many people who haven’t seen the original movie or read the book. Those people would have been more surprised by certain things in this version if they hadn’t seen too many previews or heard something on tv. Even before the movie opened, I heard one critic on tv talking about this version of the movie, and he said something that I think was really a spoiler. He just said it like it was common knowledge since there was a previous version of the movie. I don’t think what he said should have been revealed.

There was some action in The Manchurian Candidate. There was only action in a few scenes, but there were enough other things going on to keep the movie interesting for me. There were a few fight scenes, including the one at the beginning when Marco’s unit was ambushed. There was violence in some scenes. A few scenes weren’t really violent, but they showed something that was a bit gory. Those few things weren’t pleasant to see. I didn’t think that the movie was violent over all, but what violence is in it could be too much for some viewers. There were also a few things shown that were a little disturbing. The movie was fairly fast paced, but it didn’t seem rushed. I’m not sure exactly how much time was covered in the main part of the movie. I think it covered two or three months. There were a few scenes featuring some conversations between some characters that did slow the pace down some.

Politics and a very big business played an important part in The Manchurian Candidate. Eleanor and Raymond Shaw were Senators. Eleanor was pushing for Raymond to be added to their party’s ticket as the candidate for vice president, and she got her way. Raymond and Eleanor were first shown right before Eleanor gave a speech at the convention. Some things related to the campaign were shown, as well as things on election day. I may have missed something, but I never saw anything that indicated exactly what party Raymond and Eleanor belonged too. When some of the politicians were shown talking on the news, it just gave their name, and didn’t say which party they belonged to. The news coverage of the convention didn’t say which party it was for. Some issues were discussed by a few of the politicians, but those things weren’t shown that much. From what was shown about Raymond and Eleanor, I think they could have been part of either party. There was something said once that could have been indicating which party, but I could be wrong on that. Manchurian Global was a huge corporation that was somehow involved in what was going on. Some people could see some similarities to some things in the movie and some things that have really happened.

Raymond and his mother were very close. Eleanor wanted to continue controlling her son. Raymond went along with what she wanted, but he did express that he was disappointed about certain things. He was still upset that his mother interfered in a relationship he had with Jocelyn Jordan several years before. Raymond and Jocelyn did meet up again, and Raymond was happy to see her, but nothing developed there. It did come out that Raymond tried to break away from his mother when he enlisted. He ended up back under her control once he returned home. Ben started to get close to Rosie, a woman he saw at the grocery store he shopped at. Nothing really developed there either. Ben and Raymond were both shorn without their shirts. That was it for nudity.

The acting in The Manchurian Candidate was really good. Meryl Streep was wonderful as Eleanor. Streep became Eleanor. I’ve seen in her several different movies, but I don’t think I’ve seen her in a part like this one before. She gave a very powerful, commanding performance. I believe that she will be getting several nominations once it is time for the awards again. I will be surprised if she doesn’t. I have seen several movies this year, but her performance as Eleanor is the best I’ve seen all year. I really think she will be winning awards for this performance. Denzel Washington was also really good as Ben. The character was more complex than he seemed at first, and Denzel was believable in his performance. Denzel is very talented and has played different sorts of characters. I’ve mainly seen him as the good guy in movies, though the characters he played in Man on Fire and Out of Time had a bit of a bad guy to them as well. I thought that Liev Schreiber was good as Raymond. That character was very conflicted, and his personality changed at times. Schreiber displayed those things perfectly. He was in all three of the Scream movies. Kimberly Elise didn’t have as much to do as some of the others, but she was fine her in scenes. Jon Voight was good in the few scenes he had as well. Dean Stockwell turned up briefly in a few scenes, but he had very little to do. He played a much bigger part in Married to the Mob.

CHARACTERS

Ben Marco - He was in the military. His unit was ambushed in Kuwait in 1991. He had the same nightmare every night since then. He was convinced that something was going on. He was determined to remember what happened. He did some things that were a bit excessive a few times.

Raymond Shaw - He served in Ben’s unit in Kuwait. After the ambush, Raymond saved the unit and was awarded a medal. He left the military and became a senator. He was picked as the vice presidential candidate for his party. He was concerned about Ben when the two men met again, but Raymond didn’t believe Ben’s theories. Raymond wanted to break free of his mother, but he couldn’t seem to manage it.

Eleanor Shaw - Raymond’s mother. She was also a senator. She was very powerful in the party, and she used her power to get Raymond added to the ticket. She had definite plans for her son, and she wasn’t going to be stopped. She was controlling and manipulative.

Rosie - She worked at a grocery store where Ben regularly shopped. She seemed to be interested in Ben.

Thomas Jordan - Senator who was considered a front runner for the vice presidential nomination. He and Eleanor seemed to have a few issues.

Jocelyn Jordan - Thomas’s daughter. She and Raymond had dated several years before. Eleanor meddled in the relationship and caused it to end.

I really enjoyed The Manchurian Candidate. The movie was very entertaining and full of wonderful performances, especially by Meryl Streep. This movie is definitely worth seeing, especially for fans of the cast.

Related Reviews
Man on Fire ~ Out of Time ~ Married to the Mob ~



Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age