Here are the first three paragraphs of the VARIETY review of THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. The reviewer is Todd McCarthy, a writer who I believe is astute, level-headed, and practical in his evaluations with eyes on both the artistic achievements (or lack thereof) of films and also of their potential box-office grosses.
Crammed with enough creepy contemporary vibes to keep conspiracy theorists occupied through the November election, Jonathan Demme's new take on "The Manchurian Candidate" absorbingly and sometimes mesmerizingly validates the initially questionable idea of remaking one of the certified classics of the '60s. Structurally and thematically similar to John Frankenheimer's original but entirely different in style, feel and nuance, this political thriller about a brainwashed soldier being positioned for the White House provides a delectable network of dramatic tripwires that teases the mind and quickens the pulse.
This is brainy popcorn fare that, given its outstanding cast and exploitably relevant content, should play well with all audiences through the summer and beyond, even if a couple of commercial doubts linger; the original, despite wide acclaim, disappointed on initial release, and it's possible the story's real-life implications may cut too close to the bone.
Despite its basis in the Richard Condon novel and George Axelrod script that drove the 1962 film, Demme's picture, with its ambiguous mood and unsettling tension, also recalls Alan J. Pakula's shadow-world suspensers of the '70s: "Klute," "The Parallax View" and "All the President's Men." By outfitting the superbly insinuating basic story with a battery of up-to-the-minute concerns that readily feed on present fears and suspicions, Demme and screenwriters Daniel Pyne and Dean Georgaris inject new life into a recently dormant genre -- the paranoid thriller -- that talented filmmakers might do well to revisit more regularly.
After making his biggest career stumble last year with "The Truth About Charlie""The Truth About Charlie" (a remake of another cherished '60s title, "Charade""Charade"), Demme has bounced back with a picture that, in unexpected ways, stands as a companion piece to "The Silence of the Lambs." Both films, in the end, are about mind control and manipulation, about the diverse ways that evil can be instilled in well-intended people. The two works bore deeply into the heads -- literally, in this case -- of their central characters, to scary effect in both instances.
