The movie has arrived on Netflix at the perfect time.
The 2004 Denzel Washington-starring psychological political thriller The Manchurian Candidate has just been added to Netflix and the timing could not be more perfect.
On one level, the two-time Oscar-winner (and recent JOE interviewee) is currently on cinema screens reminding audiences what an absolutely bonafide, mega-watt star he is with Gladiator 2.
But also, we are living in the immediate wake of several elections – where members of the public were presented with a series of candidates and were tasked with identifying whether they could be trusted.
As such, The Manchurian Candidate’s tale of a seemingly perfect politician with a dark secret feels like it has gained a renewed sense of urgency.
Originally a novel – which also got a brilliant 1962 adaptation starring Frank Sinatra, Lawrence Harvey, Angela Lansbury and Janet Leigh – the 2004 version of the story was directed by Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia).
Washington stars as Major Bennett Marco, a well-respected soldier suffering from recurring nightmares after his time serving with the US Army during the Gulf War.
His nightmares relate to a specific military operation in Kuwait, where the official story is that one of Marco’s men – Sergeant First Class Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) – saved the major and his squad.
Shaw was subsequently awarded a Medal of Honor for his actions and, under the wing of his ruthlessly ambitious Senator mother Eleanor (Meryl Streep), he uses the coverage of his heroism to catapult himself into becoming a US vice-presidential candidate.
However, while Marco and fellow members of his squad (which also includes Jeffrey Wright, Anthony Mackie and Pablo Schreiber) initially vouched for Shaw’s bravery, as time passes, they realise that none of them can actually remember the events that transpired during the Kuwait operation.
Meanwhile, their nightmares start to reveal that maybe something much more sinister happened during this time involving Shaw.
As Marco begins to investigate, he stumbles into a vast conspiracy involving an all-powerful company called Manchurian Global.
Despite earning solid reviews from critics, the 2004 version of The Manchurian Candidate was not a big box office hit, grossing only $96.1 million on an $80 million budget.
This is a shame as the movie, though lacking some of the power of the ’60s version of the story, boasts a lot of craft.
For one, the direction by Demme – who, outside of The Silence of the Lambs, was quite an underrated filmmaker – is exceptional, establishing a near-constant air of unease.
He accomplishes this partly through his trademark use of eclectic song choices (the film opens with a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Fortunate Son by Wyclef Jean) and off-kilter editing (scenes often cut in unexpected ways).
With the help of his recurring cinematographer Tak Fujimoto, Demme also deploys strikingly unusual framing – often having characters stare directly down the barrel of the camera lens as they talk.
All of this combined coalesces to evoke an unshakeable feeling that something is wrong – which is appropriate with a plot dealing with conspiracy theories and several characters who can’t distinguish their nightmares from reality.
The performances are also excellent across the board. Streep is reliably brilliant as her political schemer, who gets to deliver several punchy monologues.
Schreiber – so adept at playing both well-spoken, refined characters and animalistic anti-heroes and baddies – is perfectly cast as a politician with a possible monster hiding inside of him, even managing to elicit sympathy from the audience.
Washington’s casting though is particularly interesting. While within Marco there are glimpses of the actor’s trademark off-the-charts charisma, this is missing for much of the film’s runtime.
Instead, the Oscar-winner plays his army major as an obsessed, broken man – rendered quiet and powerless by his traumatic experiences.
The portrayal is incredibly effective as viewers know how fun and lively Washington can be. As such, we sense this absence in his character Marco and want him to get his groove back.
While speaking about the movie’s cast, we haven’t even mentioned its deep bench of recognisable character actors including Ann Dowd, Bruno Ganz, Dean Stockwell, Jon Voight, Marin Ireland, Miguel Ferrer, Simon McBurney, Ted Levine, Vera Farmiga and Željko Ivanek.
The 2004 version of The Manchurian Candidate isn’t perfect. Some of the film’s modern updates to the story are clumsy or feel dated.
For instance, it’s hard to remember the last time a huge portion of the public unanimously loved a politician the way the masses love Schreiber’s Shaw.
Some of its plot also doesn’t make much sense, including Marco’s sort of will they/won’t they subplot with a woman he meets on a train (Kimberly Elise giving a good performance, despite a thinly written character).
That said, the overall story remains incredibly potent and the craft on display in the movie can’t be argued.
And it seems like audiences agree, with the 2004 Manchurian Candidate topping JustWatch’s Top 10 movie streaming chart for Ireland this week following its Netflix addition.
