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The Manchurian candidate - Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, Viola Davis, Jonathan Demme

Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

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.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film crime war drama thriller assassination politics brainwash mind control

Persons of interest

Denzel Washington .... Major Ben Marco
Meryl Streep .... Eleanor Shaw
Liev Schreiber .... Sergeant Raymond Shaw
Kimberly Elise .... Rosie
Vera Farmiga .... Jocelyn Jordan
Jon Voight .... Senator Thomas Jordan
David Keeley .... Anderson
Jeffrey Wright .... Al Melvin
Simon McBurney .... Noyle
Paul Lazar .... Gillespie
Alyson Renaldo .... Mirella Freeman
Adam LeFevre .... Congressman Healy
Robyn Hitchcock .... Laurent Tokar
Pablo Schreiber .... Eddie Ingram
Tom Stechschulte .... Robert Arthur
Anthony Mackie .... Robert Baker
Dorian Missick .... Owens
Jose Pablo Cantillo .... Villalobos
Teddy Dunn .... Wilson
Joaquin Perez-Campbell .... Atkins
Tim Artz .... Jameson
Ted Levine .... Colonel Howard
Richard Condon .... Author
George Axelrod .... Original Screenwriter
Dean Georgaris .... Screenwriter
Daniel Pyne .... Screenwriter
Jonathan Demme .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

The Manchurian candidate official movie site
The Manchurian candidate QuickTime movie trailers
Awards and film festivals:

British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) 2004: Nominated: Best Supporting Actress (Meryl Streep)
Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Golden Globes) 2004: Nominated: Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role (Meryl Streep)
London Film Festival 2004: Film on the Square
Venice Film Festival 2004: Out of competition

See also The Jacket, Three kings
Studios and distributors:

Paramount Pictures

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

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.