Well, They Gave It Their Best Shot
The makers of the remake of The Manchurian Candidate, that is, but I’m afraid it still falls into the category with such films as Psycho 2: Films that are probably as good as they could be, considering they never should have been made.
Psycho 2 referring to the 1980’s sequel with Anthony Perkins, which was actually kind of fun, not to the 1990’s remake by Gus Van Sant, which remains indefensible.
I saw the original Manchurian Candidate when it was theatrically re-released in the late ’80s, following a 25 year embargo imposed by star and producer Frank Sinatra after the Kennedy assination. It’s a classic for a reason.
This one is certainly well acted–Liev Schreiber did the best job, IMO–and it does what a remake should do, try to find some new ways of telling the story, a new ambience. But I was rarely or never fully engaged, and my mind kept wandering to other stories I was thinking up in my head.
Good try, though.
