Denzel Washington stars as Ben Marco, a veteran of Desert Storm. Marco is plagued by nightmares that recount his involvement in the famous "Lost Patrol" that garnered a Congressional Medal of Honor for one of his heroic squad members who happens to be a New York Senator on the fast-track to become the next vice president of the country. Chalked up to Gulf War Syndrome, Marco tries to unravel the discrepancies between his memories and the truth as he finds implanted bugs and all sorts people tailing him. Is he paranoid or is a huge corporate entity trying to put a "sleeper" in the White House?
"The Manchurian Candidate" is a solidly built remake that modernizes the storyline with a lot of hot-button issues in the headlines. Jonathan Demme directs an high octane cast (Meryl Streep, Jon Voight, Liev Schreiber join Washington) and even Roger Corman's prerequisite cameo make the scenes lively but a little editing could have trimmed the fat because at times the film runs a bit long.
"Manchurian" is a solid remake that could have shaved off a few minutes here and there. Strong performances run throughout the film.
"The Manchurian Candidate" is a solidly built remake that modernizes the storyline with a lot of hot-button issues in the headlines. Jonathan Demme directs an high octane cast (Meryl Streep, Jon Voight, Liev Schreiber join Washington) and even Roger Corman's prerequisite cameo make the scenes lively but a little editing could have trimmed the fat because at times the film runs a bit long.
"Manchurian" is a solid remake that could have shaved off a few minutes here and there. Strong performances run throughout the film.