The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Director: Jonathan Demme
Starring: Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep

Synopsis:
An Army officer suffering from Gulf War Syndrome tries to uncover the truth of what happened to him and his unit in Kuwait.

Impressions:
I might think more of this movie if I didn't hold it up to the original. It does a fairly competent job of updating the setting, but, oddly enough, the parts where they copy verbatim from the original are the ones that feel the most off. The tone and content gives something of an X-Files vibe, so if that sounds like a draw to you, you may get more out of it. I'm a little on the fence about engineering Shaw to be a more literal Manchurian Candidate, but I will give them credit for explicitly justifying Rosie's rather odd presence in the story. (It was a fan theory for the original that they decided to make canon here.) I suppose it works for an intended disconcerting effect, but I felt extreme closeups were abused a bit. All told, the movie is decent enough overall, but there's just something about it that doesn't sit right with me, so I can't give it an unqualified recommendation. I'd say if you had to pick, go with the original. This one's more of a maybe.

Rating:
50/50