The Manchurian Candidate
It was the Persian Gulf War and a commanding officer, Ben Marco (Denzel Washington), has been knocked out leaving it up to Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) to save the men in his unit, save for two people tragically killed. Flash forward to today, where Shaw is using his war credentials and his connections through his senator mother (Meryl Streep) to run for Vice President of the United States. Meanwhile, Marco and the rest of his unit is continually haunted by nightmares of the war experience. His investigation leads him to believe the whole thing may have been a hoax just to get someone into the White House. But every time he seems to get close, people get into his way including, curiously, the Manchurian Global corporation.

Most people remember the 1960's version of this film from John Frankenheimer and wonder why in the world an update was needed. But considering the quality of this modern version from Jonathan Demme, while it takes its cues from the original, it is independent enough to stand alone as a taut political thriller. Pretty much anything Washington does will be quality material and he doesn't disappoint here. The victim of apparent brainwashing and constant surveillance, Washington does well balancing these two forces while looking as crazy as you can get. The true effect of the classic Manchurian Candidate wasn't truly felt until much later. This film won't leave that kind of lasting impression, and it probably spells things out too much at the end, but it's a carefully crafted film that keeps track of every detail and holds its secrets well until the last second. 3.5 stars