CANDIDATE
Movie Reviews
But really, this is a film that understands how to get under your skin in almost too many ways. Since September 11, our nation has become elusively paranoid to unusual acts of terrorism that could potentially destroy the United States as we know it. What “The Manchurian Candidate” suggests is a form of terrorism that is only considered by science fiction nerds and colleagues of Donald Rumsfeld – things that we hope are impossible, but aren’t sure if they are. And it is that uncertainty that Demme feeds off of.
Plot: A group of American soldiers come back from the Gulf War having nightmares about what happened on a fateful night when two of their own were killed. It is remembered that Major Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) was knocked unconscious during an ambush. The enemy engaged them from the ground and air in helicopters. When the major became indisposed, Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) takes command and shoots down to enemy helicopters. As a result, Shaw is awarded the Medal of Honor and labeled a war hero by both his company and his political party.
Years later, pieces of the puzzle begin to fit together as Marco relives that night in his dreams. He dreams something much different than what he remembers actually happening and begins to question the accuracy of the event when one of the men formally under his command claims to be having the same dreams. Politics get involved and Shaw becomes the Vice Presidential nominee, mostly because of his mother Eleanor Shaw, a woman who seems desperate to get her son into high public office.
Although you may not know director Jonathon Demme, you most likely know his work. He’s the reason why “The Silence of the Lambs” is one of the most unsettling films ever made. So, consider that, then understand the material that he is working with – a story so pervasive and so terrifying to the comatose American eye that its original was banned from the public for nearly twenty years.
Now, how does Demme do this? One of the many sly filmmaking tricks he uses is to have many of the actors deliver their lines directly to the camera for whole conversations. In having the cameras positioned precisely in front of the actor, Demme creates an involving execution that makes it seem as though the lines are being delivered to you. When you have famous actors in high ranking military uniforms talking about brainwash and assassination, you can’t help but become pulsated in the moment.
Denzel Washington is simply one of the best intense dramatic actors ever to make a film. The difference between him and others like him is that he never becomes redundant. He’s his usual flawless self. Liev Schreiber and Meryl Streep are haunting in their reprises of the Laurence Harvey and Angela Lansbury characters. Both slightly resemble their formers, and in a way that personifies them into resurrection. Keeping in mind that Lansbury’s Eleanor Shaw was one of the most easily hated villains of the twentieth century, Streep’s is just as easily hated. *** ˝