Just how close this is to the original I couldn't say as I haven't seen the 1962 Frank Sinatra original, but as a stand alone political conspiracy thriller it definitely exceeded my expectations.
The first thing that you notice about this film is the acting - superb from all participants. Denzel Washington gives a typically solid performance in the lead role and Liev Schrieber impresses as Raymond Shaw, but most credit must go to Meryl Streep for her highly chilling turn as the mother of a vice-presidential candidate. Her brilliantly psychotic performance is surely worthy of yet another Oscar nomination, and with good reason.
But the acting has to be up to scratch as the script isn't. There are several moments in the film in which you really will have to suspend disbelief as the film climbs to new heights of implausibility, and the film's central premise - that an army unit has been brainwashed and that Raymond Shaw is being controlled by a global corporation - would surely not have got through the first production meeting had this been an original idea.
But since when has a dodgy script stopped a film from being any good? If you're prepared to forget the real world for a couple of hours and forgive the weak ending, which suggests that the scriptwriters missed their deadline and were given an hour to think of an ending, you should find this an engrossing political thriller.
7/10
The first thing that you notice about this film is the acting - superb from all participants. Denzel Washington gives a typically solid performance in the lead role and Liev Schrieber impresses as Raymond Shaw, but most credit must go to Meryl Streep for her highly chilling turn as the mother of a vice-presidential candidate. Her brilliantly psychotic performance is surely worthy of yet another Oscar nomination, and with good reason.
But the acting has to be up to scratch as the script isn't. There are several moments in the film in which you really will have to suspend disbelief as the film climbs to new heights of implausibility, and the film's central premise - that an army unit has been brainwashed and that Raymond Shaw is being controlled by a global corporation - would surely not have got through the first production meeting had this been an original idea.
But since when has a dodgy script stopped a film from being any good? If you're prepared to forget the real world for a couple of hours and forgive the weak ending, which suggests that the scriptwriters missed their deadline and were given an hour to think of an ending, you should find this an engrossing political thriller.
7/10