Movie · 2004 · Thriller, War · 2h 10m · R · English
Curator score: 4.7/10 (183.1K ratings)
Everything is under control.
Overview
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.
Ratings
Curator score: 4.7/10
IMDb: 6.6/10
Letterboxd: 3.31/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 79%
Metacritic: 76
TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
Jonathan Demme
Production
Clinica Estetico, Paramount Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions, Tina Sinatra Productions
Cast
Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber, Simon McBurney, Kimberly Elise, Bruno Ganz, Jon Voight, Jeffrey Wright, Anthony Mackie, Ted Levine, Miguel Ferrer, Dean Stockwell, Vera Farmiga, Pablo Schreiber, Jude Ciccolella, Obba Babatundé, Željko Ivanek, Paul Lazar, John Bedford Lloyd, Tom Stechschulte
Where to watch
fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential
Curator Review
Verdict
A sharp, paranoid political thriller with strong performances and a timely, corrosive view of power, media, and manipulation. It may not fully match the original’s reputation, but Jonathan Demme’s style and the cast keep it tense and watchable throughout.
Best for
viewers who like conspiracy thrillers and political paranoia
fans of prestige studio thrillers with big performances
people interested in post-9/11-era cynicism and media manipulation
audiences who enjoy remakes that reframe older material for a new era
Skip if
you want a purely grounded military thriller
you dislike heavy-handed political allegory
you prefer lean, minimalist suspense over glossy studio drama
you are expecting a classic on the level of the 1962 original
Overview
Jonathan Demme turns this remake into a slick, anxious political nightmare, less interested in Cold War intrigue than in the machinery of modern power. The result is a movie that feels of its moment and, in some ways, ahead of it: corporate influence, media spectacle, and weaponized fear all sit at the center of the story.
Worth noting
Denzel Washington gives the film its moral gravity, while Meryl Streep leans into chilly, theatrical menace. Liev Schreiber is also well cast in a role that has to be both pitiable and unsettling. Demme’s camera keeps the movie alive even when the plot gets a little overengineered, and the oddball music choices give it a destabilizing, almost off-kilter rhythm.
Bottom line
It’s not flawless, and some viewers will find the remake unnecessary or too polished for its own good. But as a post-9/11 paranoia thriller, it has real bite. The movie works best when it feels like a warning about how easily public reality can be manufactured.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Sean Fennessey (4★) · 1016 likes
I used to think this was pointless. Now I think it’s vital. One of the great films made during the George W. Bush administration. Relentlessly cynical about government, the military, ambition, and motherhood. Radically prescient about the way we perceive corporatism, political theater, mental illness, and rage-fueled paranoia stoked by power at the highest levels via media manipulation. Remarkable how this fatalistic script smashes together with Demme’s zooming, Boomer humanism. You wanna see why Barry Jenkins and Paul Thomas Anderson… more I used to think this was pointless. Now I think it’s vital. One of the great films made during the George W. Bush administration. Relentlessly cynical about government, the military, ambition, and motherhood. Radically prescient about the way we perceive corporatism, political theater, mental illness, and rage-fueled paranoia stoked by power at the highest levels via media manipulation. Remarkable how this fatalistic script smashes together with Demme’s zooming, Boomer humanism. You wanna see why Barry Jenkins and Paul Thomas Anderson… more
Patrick Willems (3★) · 858 likes
If you're gonna make a brainwashed sleeper assassin, maybe don't make their activation code word just...their name
Branson Reese · 476 likes
My friend and I went to go see Harold and Kumar in high school and they wouldn't let us in due to the dangers of drugs. But they let us walk right into this movie about a man brainwashed into killing the president or something. I learned my lesson that day: drugs are serious business. More serious than killing the president of The United States (itself no laughing matter.) Luckily, I avoided drugs and alcohol entirely after that day and never had to enter a twelve step program where I would learn to accept a higher power into my life.
Casey Malone (3.5★) · 373 likes
The idea that a corporation would have to go to through the trouble of clandestine brainwashing in order to control the president instead of just donating to Pete Buttigieg now seems quaint beyond belief.
Kevin Clarke (3.5★) · 358 likes
The Elvis impersonator using the Public library computer next to Denzel is a touch only Jonathan Demme would throw into a political thriller.
1998 · Action, Drama, Thriller · 2h 12m · R · Curator 4.8/10 (392.3K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A glossy, high-energy paranoia thriller about surveillance, state power, and being trapped inside a system.
1999 · Drama, Thriller · 2h 38m · R · Curator 8.9/10 (321K ratings) · Where to watch: Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus
For its corporate paranoia, institutional pressure, and serious-minded thriller construction.
Topics
political thriller, paranoia, post-9/11, conspiracy, psychological suspense, government corruption, media satire, military trauma, prestige drama, satirical menace