What it lacks in subtlety it makes up for in blandness. The performances are great, but they spend so much time uncomfortably staring directly through the screen and into my soul that I can't ignore the overtly broad and ridiculously conspiratorial dialogue. I really should've watched the original first.

On the look out for a cerebral thriller, I came across this ten year old re-heat of the 1962 Frankenheimer film. Jonathan Demme is someone who you want to believe is a genius (Silence of the Lambs). Unfortunately watching this you can't help but feel that the screenplay for the afore mentioned must have laid things on a plate for him. Whilst there are some of his trademarks, notably the trade mark tight to camera eye-lines...there's nothing really here about the filmmaking that indicates any form of expression beyond just doing it by the numbers. Yes, there are a few tiny skin crawly moments (the tattoo face lady montage) where you think things might just get a bit Jacob's Ladder on you but the film never really hits any frights, down mostly due to its slavishly naturalistic aesthetic choices which is surprising given Demme was collaborating with very hot (at the time) DP Tak Fujimoto who shot dark classics including The Sixth Sense. Denzel is watchable as always and that's something worth the 5 dollars. It's probably also the best Liev Shrieber has been, perfectly cast as a golden boy political hopeful. Another example of "if it ain't broke.."

Captain Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) leads an unit during Desert Storm that gets ambushed. Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) is not particularly liked by the men but he becomes the hero who saves the unit. Corp. Al Melvin (Jeffrey Wright) comes to Marco with disturbing dreams. Marco also has the same dream and starts to investigate what really happened during the incident. The hero Shaw is pushed by his overbearing Senator mother Eleanor Prentiss Shaw (Meryl Streep) to become the VP nominee over rival Senator Tom Jordan (Jon Voight).I like this a little bit more than the original. I like the premise in this one but it's still outlandish. The acting is superior. Schreiber has a creepiness and Washington is a pure leading man. Meryl Streep is amazing as a stage-mom monster. I still have a problem with the premise. Also there is no surprise since it's a remake. Nevertheless, this is an effective remake.

Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) was leading a group of men in the Persian Gulf War when they were ambushed. Things got a bit hazy after that for everyone, but the outcome was only two men of the company perished and the rest were saved by an underling, Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber). Flash forwarding several years, Ben is haunted by recurring nightmares. In his bad dreams, he and his men are being tortured in a room, with strange doctors and nurses. Raymond, far from a hero, appears to kill a fellow soldier. Yet, everyone who was involved in the incident long ago recites the same thing, Raymond was a hero and deserved a medal, Huh. Now Ray, although an odd duck, is an up and coming politician, schooled by his ambitious mother Eleanor (Meryl Streep) and inserted onto the Republican presidential ticket as the VP candidate. The assumed choice, Senator Jordan (Jon Voight) is upset. So is his daughter, Jocelyn (Vera Farmiga) a former love interest of Raymond's. Sensing his dreams are important, Ben begins to search into the history of Ray Shaw and others who were in their company. What he discovers is frightening. The soldiers may have been brainwashed, including candidate Shaw. As folks begin to die mysteriously, will anyone believe Marco's version of the truth, making for a dangerous man about to become an important leader? This is a spellbinding update of a classic. Now, instead of the Korean War, we have the Persian Gulf and a large corporation named Manchurian replaces a region in China. Nevertheless, the themes of mind control, brain washing and puppet leaders is very scary. The cast is superb, with special merit extended to Schreiber for a truly understated and sensitive character. Sets, costumes, script and direction are of the finest. Why not make it a viewing marathon and watch both versions back to back? Now, that's a candidate for an interesting evening!