Manchurian Candidate : A Remake that Will Have You Guessing

After watching The Village I sat down to my computer thinking "This will be the hardest review I've ever written." Today I sit down after watching The Manchurian Candidate and am thinking the same thing. I did not realize I would have such a problem telling you about a movie like this. I figured since it is a remake that it would be a piece of cake. Boy am I wrong.

The Manchurian Candidate was first made in 1962 and is a favorite of mine because it stars Frank Sinatra. Recently I watched this film in one of my history classes and looked at it through different eyes. In this class we learned how to see a movie in terms of the time period that surrounds it. We looked at the Manchurian Candidate and picked out the ideas of 1962.

Whenever I watched the remake I could not help but look at it in terms of 2004. While watching the 2004 film political leaders pop into your mind as well as famous faces of the media. Jonathan Demme, the director, obviously wants his audience to question everything. The movie of 1962 was paranoid and focused on the Red Scare, the movie of 2004 is paranoid and focused on many political issues of today.

Meryl Streep steals the show in the part Angela Lansbury played in the original. This character is ruthless and career minded. At the same time she is cold, heartless and flat out creepy. Liev Schreiber plays Raymond Shaw, Streep's son in the movie and Senator turned Vice President.

Schreiber has had many small roles but I think he really shines as the conflicted, unlovable war hero. Denzel Washington is Denzel Washington. I had a slight issue with him playing Frank Sinatra's role, mainly because I love Sinatra so much, however I do not think I need to tell you how great he is and that the casting works out nicely.

Many changes are made to the Manchurian Candidate, both big and small. I would love to discuss these changes with you, however I do not want to affect how you view the movie. I went in thinking it was a generic remake and came out speechless. I had seen the older version before watching the new and although I think it was useful it also left me playing a constant game of comparison. I think Manchurian Candidate stands alone without the older story, however I think both versions are essential.