Synopsis
Years after his squad was ambushed during the Gulf War, Major Ben Marco finds himself having terrible nightmares. He begins to doubt that his fellow squad-mate Sergeant Raymond Shaw, now a vice-presidential candidate, is the hero he remembers him being. As Marco's doubts deepen, Shaw's political power grows, and, when Marco finds a mysterious implant embedded in his back, the memory of what really happened begins to return.
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Cast
- Denzel WashingtonMajor Bennett Ezekiel Marco
- Meryl StreepSenator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw (D-VA)
- Liev SchreiberCongressman Raymond Prentiss Shaw (D-NY)
- Simon McBurneyDr. Atticus Noyle
- Kimberly EliseRosie
- Bruno GanzDelp
- Jon VoightSenator Thomas Jordan (D-CT)
- Jeffrey WrightCPL Al Melvin
- Anthony MackiePFC Robert Baker III
- Ted LevineColonel Howard
Recommendations
- 100
Newsweek
A hugely entertaining thriller shot through with dark shards of agony and paranoia. It takes nothing away from the original while delivering pleasures all its own. - 90
Variety
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. - 90
The A.V. Club
Shockingly, he's (Jonathan Demme) pulled it off, replicating the original's tricky feat of investing a paranoid plot with timeliness, psychological complexity, sociopolitical acumen, and almost frightening conviction. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
The updated classic is a chiller of a political thriller in its own right. - 80
L.A. Weekly
If Demme's version lacks the wallop of its predecessor, it is more likely to be popular with contemporary audiences, who will enjoy not only its labyrinthine twists but its stars' burnished professionalism. - 75
Chicago Tribune
Demme's movie is just as sophisticated and knowing as Frankenheimer's, but it isn't as hip or daring. It doesn't haunt your mind or stir your sense of dread the way the '62 movie did--and it lacks almost totally the earlier film's piercing, oddball satire and humor. - 75
Charlotte Observer
If you ride the paranoiac tide, letting Jonathan Demme's assured direction carry you along, the sardonic humor and anxiety-inducing message work on you. - 70
Dallas Observer
Just as you feel the numbing, clammy clench of paranoia on your neck, you realize, nope, the grip is just the director's attempt at tickling you to death. Demme's movie had no right to work. It does, and then some.
