***1/2 (out of five)
Remakes seem to be a dime-a-dozen of late. In the past fewyears, we have seen 'new' versions of Ocean's 11, The Truth AboutCharlie, Around the World in 80 Days, Freaky Friday, The StepfordWives, Planet of Apes, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Mr. Deeds.There's no end in sight, either, as Bryan Singer is reworkingLogan's Run, Johnny Depp is staring in a new Willy Wonka, andupdates are in the works for The Producers, The Longest Yard, TheWar of the Worlds and Bullit.
Jonathan Demme's remake of the 1962 classic The ManchurianCandidate doesn't so much reinvent the movie as update it. Thosewho have seen John Frankenheimer's original won't be surprised bythe new Manchurian Canadate's twists and turns, although those whoare experiencing the story for the first time may be.
Denzel Washington is in standard Denzel mode with a hint ofinsanity as Ben Marco, but sometimes in the movie it's unclear whatis driving him to his actions. Liev Schreiber succeeds as RaymondShaw, if only for his ability to have inexplicable mood changes.Jon Voight is one step away from a character actor as he plays asmall but important role as a Senator with whom Marco trusts hissecret.
If this were any other movie, Meryl Streep would be receivingthe highest of praises for her role, as she captures it almostperfectly. The only hangup is that Angela Lansbury was so memorablein the original, that Streep's performance pales in comparison toLandbury's in the original.
Demme, meanwhile, uses convention in his work. It certainllyisn't his best; in fact, it falls well short of Philadelphia andSilence of the Lambs. He has created a crafty thriller thatsucceeds as a movie but fails as a remake simply because he did nothave the fortitude to bring anything new to the table.
In the end, the movie falls a few steps short of beinghauntingly chilling, which wouldn't be a big deal if there wasn'tso much potential.
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