cassidyorme
why do people think this is a good movie.. the soundtrack alone ruins it.. why the hell did they play so many crappy songs.. where did they even find that many crap songs.. the opening was garbage.. how many songs did they play in the first 5 minutes lol.. plot was undeveloped, characters underdeveloped.. this is not a good movie.. not to mention the doctor they leave it unresolved, and in such a crappy way. sad too there was a lot of good actors in this horrible movie
museumofdave
One can watch Hitchcock's Psycho again and again even knowing the plot, as the seemingly simple style combine with surprising and brilliantly quirky performances to create a memorable experience. Because I know and admire the original and unsettling Manchurian Candidate, the plot surprises in the competent remake are telegraphed, and even though the theme of an American president controlled by corporate forces is more than timely, it was hard for me to get personally involved in the convoluted story.That said, Meryl Streep has a grand time essaying The Mother From Hell, and Liev Schreiber plays her zombie-like spawn with more conviction than boring Laurence Harvey did in the original. who merely seemed to be type-cast. My recommendation: if you haven't seen the original, this can be an excellent conspiracy thriller, as the craftsmanship is exceptional, and it is tightly pulled together; if you are an old fan of the original, the disorienting shivers won't be there, but it's still interesting as a comparison, and it's a well-made construct.
Desertman84
The Manchurian Candidate is a thriller film based on the novel of the same title by Richard Condon.It The film stars Denzel Washington as Bennett Marco, a tenacious, virtuous soldier; Liev Schreiber as Raymond Shaw, a U.S. Representative from New York, manipulated into becoming a vice-presidential candidate; Jon Voight as Tom Jordan, a U.S. Senator and challenger for vice president and Meryl Streep as Eleanor Prentiss Shaw, also a senator and the manipulative, ruthless mother of Raymond Shaw.Miguel Ferrer, Ted Levine, and Dean Stockwell play key supporting roles.It was directed by Jonathan Demme.Major Bennett Marco and Sergeant Raymond Shaw are two soldiers who served in the same company during Operation Desert Storm, but their paths following their tours of duty have been very different. Shaw, the son of powerful congresswoman Eleanor Shaw, has used his reputation as a war hero to quickly scale the ladder of American politics, and with the help of his mother earns the Vice Presidential nomination. Marco, on the other hand, has been troubled with mental illness, and is convinced that something strange happened to him and his compatriots during the war. As Marco struggles to find the truth behind his nightmares and emotional torment, he unearths some disturbing facts about how his mind and body have been reworked by shadowy forces, as well as those of his fellow soldiers that includes Shaw.While it is not the classic its predecessor is, this remake is well- acted and conjures a chilling resonance.This humorless and nonsensical version is never quite engages, devolving the original's camp and satire into self-serious melodrama and it never approaches that level of intensity, intelligence, or audacity unlike the original.But nevertheless,it remains watchable due to great performances of the talented cast.
