The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

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 | War Hero | Kuwait | Implant

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 6 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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

Color:

Color

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:

On the wall of Senator Jordan's office is a poster for the Vietnam POW / MIA "You are not forgotten" campaign (the black on white silhouette).

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the election war room, when Shaw's mother is rallying to get her son on the ballot, she stands in front of an electoral map that lists Wyoming as having 8 electoral votes and Colorado with 3. These numbers, if written by a "political expert" would be switched.

Quotes:

Noyle: Hello, Captain. Do you remember me?

Movie Connections:

References "The Twilight Zone" (1959)

Soundtrack:

This City in Darkness

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.