The Manchurian Candidate (2004) - "Living For The Streep" Series

“Living for the STREEP” Series: We are here to celebrate the career of Mary Louise Streep….now known to most as Meryl Streep who has become widely known by critics, film-lovers, and audiences as likely our GREATEST LIVING ACTRESS.  Ever since her earlier breakout roles in the late 1970’s in films such as The Deer Hunter, and Kramer Vs. Kramer, she has carved out a filmography filled with brilliant performances in memorable films spanning a variety of genres including biopics, thrillers, family dramas, AND comedies.  During this time, she has also earned a STAGGERING TWENTY-ONE Oscar nominations including THREE wins.  Over the next several months, I will be revisiting one notable Streep film each month – each highlighting a different type of performance – culminating with the May 1 release of the long-awaited sequel featuring one of her more ICONIC roles as Miranda Priestly, The Devil Wears Prada 2.

How you remake a stone cold classic like The Manchurian Candidate?  John Frankenheimer's seminal cold war paranoia thriller was released in 1962 and became one of the more celebrated thrillers of that decade?  Well if you're Oscar-winner Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, Something Wild), you assemble a very top-flight A-list cast lead by Oscar-winner Denzel Washington, Oscar-winner Meryl Streep, and Liev Schreiber alongside a slew of up-and-coming talent at the time who would eventually become celebrated actors including Jeffrey Wright, Vera Farmiga, Kimberly Elise, and Anthony Mackie.  The crazy story (which loosely adapts that of the original) centers on a Desert Storm verteran officer (Washington) who keeps having strange dreams and/or flashbacks to the war....and he's not the only one as he also served with a up-and-coming senator (Schreiber) who is about to run for Vice President, who MIGHT be having the same types of visions.  Beyond that, the senator has a very controlling mother (Meryl Streep) who is also a senator and she has some VERY unique plans for her son to rise to power.  And the shadowy organization behind all of this is named Manchurian Global who happens to have a lot of military contracts.  Things gets just increasingly intense and dangerous for all involved....

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon 

Transcript

“Living for the STREEP” Series: We are here to celebrate the career of Mary Louise Streep originally from Summit, New Jersey….now known to most as Meryl Streep who has become widely known by critics, film-lovers, and audiences as likely our GREATEST LIVING ACTRESS.  Ever since her earlier breakout roles in the late 1970’s in films such as Julia, The Deer Hunter, and Kramer Vs. Kramer, she has carved out a filmography filled with brilliant performances in memorable films spanning a variety of genres including biopics, thrillers, family dramas, AND comedies.  During this time, she has also earned a STAGGERING TWENTY-ONE Oscar nominations including THREE wins.  Over the next several months, I will be revisiting one notable Streep film each month – each highlighting a different type of performance – culminating with the May 1 release of the long-awaited sequel featuring one of her more ICONIC roles as Miranda Priestly, The Devil Wears Prada 2. (Music playing over)

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE - 2004

Directed by Jonathan Demme

Starring Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber, Simon McBurney, Kimberly Elise, Bruno Ganz, John Voight, Anthony Mackie, Ted Levine, Miguel Ferrer, Dean Stockwell, Vera Farmiga, Pablo Schreiber, Jude Ciccolella, Obba Babatunde, Zeljko Ivanek, Paul Lazar, and Jeffrey Wright

Genre: Conspiracy Thriller (Audio clip)

Hard to believe this was actually made and released during the Age of W at the PEAK of his popularity during an era of "Freedom Fries" and the Dixie Chicks being declared terrorists....the Summer of '04 was a VERY touchy time. 😳 You've have possibly the TWO premiere actors of their generation (Denzel & Meryl) going to toe-to-toe (well they don't actually share a scene together which seems egregious in retrospect) back by a major Oscar-winning filmmaking (Jonathan Demme) directing his second unnecessary remake of a classic film in a row. And this with a hyper-political plot of war-mongering elite Senators pulling the strings to steer an election and brainwashed Gulf War veterans being manipulated into assassination, it gets pretty wild!

You also have a STACKED cast of younger up-and-comers (Anthony Mackie, Pablo Schreiber, Vera Farminga, Jeffrey Wright), grizzled vets (Jon Voight, Miguel Ferrer, Dean Stockwell, and Bruno Ganz the same year he did Downfall!) PLUS the entire Demme Repertory Crew including every one from Charles Napier to Tracey Walter to Obba Babatunde to the return of Jamie Gumm himself....Ted Levine. :) Denzel's Ben Marco is going full-on manic paranoid and is undoubtedly a kick to watch....he's perpetually sweaty here and the camera is ALWAYS up-close on his face (a Demme specialty) so we always know and understand just paranoid he is. Pretty much the entire cast is just GOING for it with two more standouts being Liev Schrieber playing the titular "Manchurian Candidate", VP candidate Raymond Shaw as a truly isolated wounded soul whom we see do some terrible things.....and pretty much stealing all of HIS scenes, Simon McBurney playing a creepy South African mad scientist/doctor who's orchestrating all of this nutso brain experimentation stuff!

There's SO much filling up the screen that you could almost mistake this for a paranoid Oliver Stone thriller....yet amazingly with STILL more heart and restraint. 🤨 Yeah for all of the glossy political stuff (fake rallies, fictitious newschannels all rendered pretty convincingly circa '04) and Terry Gilliam-like twisted flashbacks, Demme still manages to inject his trademark compassion into the story....mainly sympathy for Denzel and Liev's characters but even a bit of nuance for Streep's seemingly over-the-top Senator Shaw, especially during one unexpectedly touching moment towards the end. There's political commentary for sure but an undercurrent of empathy for various characters who just feel lost - Demme just doesn't have it in him to go full-on savage even within this particular subgenre.

Now comparing this to the ORIGINAL….it’s simply not as good.  And even though I'm a bit hazy on the John Frankemheimer classic from '62 - it was likely on video in the '90's and I DO remember getting really into it - it feels as if having lesser overall BITE is this remake's biggest shortcoming when compared to the original. That film co-starring Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury (in what were likely both career-best performances for them) had a chillier vibe which seemed to work better for this story....the hypnosis stuff was played straighter too. But honestly as far as remaking a classic goes, this version is still quite entertaining. Sinatra-to-Denzel, Lansbury-to-Streep, and even Lawrence Harvey-to-Liev Schreiber.....those are each acting caliber upgrades which are hard to argue with. 🤔 And while Frankenheimer was a master of the paranoia thriller, the late, great Demme - who had given us Silence of the Lambs by this point - wasn't exactly a slouch. He pulls off a general sense of unease for most of the run-time. Overall it's a bit messier but this was still a worthy remake.

Meryl Oscar Clip (Meryl Streep has become such a consummate actress on-screen that many just ASSUME – fair or not – that she will delivering scenes designed to highlight her “acting” ability.  This would be the moment of her performance in this film which seems the most IDEAL to play as a clip on the Oscar’s): 

Roughly ¾ into the film pretty much kicking off the third act is undoubtedly THE showcase scene for Streep when she’s having an off-line secret meeting OUTDOORS with the two higher-ups at Manchurian Global.  Even though her Eleanor has some bombastic moments throughout, NONE are as big as this one as she just goes to town with a fiery mini-rant about what motivates her.  It’s close to over-the-top but it still a kick to see Meryl really cook here. (Audio clip)

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Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

The film has a suitably eerie orchestral score from British composing legend born in Haslemere, England Rachel Portman.  Just HOW legendary is she?  Well she was THE first female composer to win an Emmy and then she was the first female composer to win an Oscar for the 1996 cinematic adaptation of Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow.  Her score doesn’t really have any distinctive themes but it still does the job in keeping mood tense throughout. (Audio clip) 

But for me, the musical highlight is actually a pop REMAKE which bookends the film during both the opening and closing credits – the mere idea of it might seem a BIT too on-the-nose for this particular story (including some key lyrics) and it’s also a pretty beloved anti-war anthem from the ‘60’s which has just been used WAY too much in countless films, often played with the context of not even getting the message of the song…..seriously this has been the “Born In the USA” of simply misused needle-drops in several big budget action films from Live Free or Die Hard to Battleship, I’m of course referring to Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” from ’69…still LOVE that opening guitar hook. (Audio clip) 

Well at the very least even it’s on the nose, the song is used APPROPRIATELY for the themes of this film….and it’s a pretty catchy remake at that, albeit with a COMPLETELY different sound.  More of a reggae sound and it comes to us from one of the more celebrated pop music collectives from the turn of the century….remember The Fugees?  Well one of their founding members was Nelust Wyclef Jean born in Haiti, himself a hip-hop artist who also served as the band’s lead producer and guitarist….yes Wyclef Jean who himself has had a solid solo career SINCE the band kinda-sorta broke up in the early ‘00’s….though to be fair, bands like them never REALLY break up.  Among his solo projects was recording a new 21st Century version of “Fortunate Son” exclusively for this film’s soundtrack.  Is it as good as the original?  Heh….like the movie compared to the original….well we’ll get to that.  But it’s still a fun song! (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

At the end of the day, I’m glad he tried and what resulted WAS a solid thriller but I’m just not so sure that the late, great Jonathan Demme was the BEST person to direct this…even though he gathered one hell of a cast.  I think back to this time period in the early ‘00’s - DePalma and Olivers Stone were the most obvious choices – but by this point, both directors were past their peaks.  Maybe a Todd Field who had done In The Bedroom a few years prior (and future director of previous episode Tar) or Mark Romanek who had directed previous episode One Hour Photo a couple of years prior…but both were early in their careers, this would have been their second features and with a significantly bigger budget no less.  Nah I think David Fincher coming off of previous episodes Fight Club, Panic Room, and Seven would have just KILLED this….he has come close to doing full-on paranoia thrillers with Fight Club and The Game but the former was played more for comedy and the latter more for whimsy.  I would have LOVED to see what he could have done with this material….it was likely never a possibility as he probably already working on his passion project Zodiac….and in retrospect, I’m glad he did.  

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

This film features several crazy moments throughout and I’m not sure that all of them work as effectively as they should….mostly notably a GENUINELY BAT-SHIT scene early one when Denzel’s Marco is able to get some quiet one-on-one facetime sitting with Schreiber’s Senator Shaw.  They’re kind of bonding as former brothers-in-arms do but Marco starts to get increasingly intense as he tries to explain an implant placed in Shaw’s soldier during the war…..and when Shaw isn’t buying it, he takes the extreme measure of trying to BITE it out of him.  Hey look Denzel is SELLING this, I don’t think any actor could sell it better…but sorry, it’s STILL pretty goofy as written. (Audio clip) 

However one scene which truly DOES work occurs around the half-way point – it’s a flashback to when both Marco and Shaw are being held captive at a secret bunker in Iraq by Manchurian Global and being PROGRAMMED by Simon McBurney’s Dr. Atticus Noyle to….flat-out MURDER one of their fellow soldiers each, one by a gunshot in the head and the other by strangulation….all in front of their other fellow soldiers sitting kind of zonked on IV’s and all played very matter-of-factly too.  Genuinely chilling stuff and it takes the film to the next level for sure! (Audio clip) 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film): 

As much as I dig Streep in this – it’s part of this series for a reason as it’s GREAT to see her play a full-on villain - it’s Denzel and Liev who truly carry this film with their performances.  And if I had to choose among them, I feel like Denzel had the greater level of difficulty to overcome with his…..it’s just SO unlike most other performances of his as he doesn’t get to relay on ANY of the expected Denzelisms, the laugh, the walk, the thousand yard stare.  Not only that but we 100% BUY that this guy’s mind is truly scrambled.  In the end, Shaw is obviously the more tragic figure but at the end of this film, we have little doubt that Marco is truly damaged for life.  For delivering one of his more underrated performances, Denzel Washington is the MVP. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Yeah in retrospect this is a weird one and by all means, I would encourage you to watch the original which I hope to review at some point too.  Check it out for the cast and some truly hair-raising sequences. 

Streaming on kanopy & hoopla

And that ends another FORGED BY ENEMY FIRE review!