Everything is under control.
A psychological thriller, The Manchurian candidate stars Denzel Washington as Army Major Bennett Marco, a career soldier who grows suspicious about his experience in Desert Storm after Squad Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber), son of the powerful Senator Eleanor Shaw (Meryl Streep), becomes a candidate for Vice President.
Special Agent Matti
If you want to watch a movie about a man chewing candied dates then The Manchurian candidate is going to put you right off. For a start, there are no dates. Not even a camel, although there is plenty of sand and some people do eat (but they're 2-minute noodles, which don't require chewing, just sucking).
Denzel Washington's latest foray onto the big screen is a remake of the 1962 thriller starring Frank Sinatra. I haven't seen Old Blue Eyes' version but I can imagine what it would be like having seen Denzel's. The question is, however, is Denzel's attempt at being a heroic victim struggling against a vast conspiracy anything more than more Hollywood tripe? Answer: No. If you've seen the trailer you know everything that happens in the film. You know who the baddies are, you know what they did, you know why they did it. All you don't know is whether Denzel wins in the end. Not that you can't guess. Denzel is the African American's Tom Cruise. Even when he's playing a baddie he's still a goodie. And if you want a puppet in the White House all you need to do is vote for George W Bush.
I liked Liev Schreiber, but. He was good.
MA 15+ (Medium level violence)
130 minutes (2:10 hours)
Film: 28 October 2004
DVD rental: 10 March 2005
VHS rental: 10 March 2005
