Fear and Loathing on the Learning Curve: Observations on Life, Tech and Web Design from a Slightly Misanthropic Mind

“The Manchurian Candidate” (2005)

Denzel Washington is surely a god.

If you come away from this film with one thought, that should be it. Having recently watched (and very much enjoyed) “Man on Fire,” I was only too pleased to serve myself up another help­ing of dark Washington act­ing, and while not quite at the level of “Man on Fire,” the qual­ity of “The Manchurian Candidate” cer­tainly approaches it.

The action takes place in present-day America, where Washington’s char­ac­ter, Major Ben Marco, is approached by a former mem­ber of his Desert Storm pla­toon, who tells him of the strange and haunt­ing dreams he has been hav­ing of what happened to their pla­toon in Kuwait in 1991. The pla­toon was ambushed one night, and Marco knocked uncon­scious, but he and the rest of the pla­toon emerged believ­ing that fel­low private Raymond Shaw saved their lives, for which he was awar­ded the Congressional Medal of Honour. He then goes on to run for Vice-President. Through the course of the film how­ever, it emerges that what happened — or didn’t hap­pen — is not so simple.

I can’t say much more without invit­ing whin­ing accus­a­tions of giv­ing away the plot, des­pite the whole thing being pretty much explained in the first 5 minutes of (and trailer for) the film. Not stick­ing too rigidly to the lines of the ori­ginal 1962 film, the plot is not devoid of twists, all of which are expertly car­ried out. The whole mood of the film is of a dark, terror-wary America, look­ing to place its trust in a new leader who will fix everything and save the world. From the dimly lit, wet-walled cor­ridors of a New York motel to the gleam­ing lights of polit­ical con­ven­tion halls, the set­tings com­pli­ment the action bril­liantly. Meryl Streep does a good job as the power-queen mother, and Liev Schreiber’s crisp-spoken, smiles-too-much Shaw main­tains just the right level of creepy. Little touches, like the subtle way the lights brighten every time the men slip into their hyp­not­ized state, really make this film into an immers­ive thriller.

If you haven’t seen “Man on Fire,” see it. Then see this, and see what you think. If you enjoyed the first, you’ll cer­tainly enjoy this. It’s also likely to appeal to fans of the ori­ginal, as it really breaks the remake mould in not being utter garbage.