When Sergeant Raymond Shaw’s (Liev Schreiber) army unit was ambushed during the first Gulf War, he saved his fellow soldiers just as his commanding officer Captain Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) was knocked unconscious. Shaw uses the incident for political gain, eventually becoming a vice-presidential nominee. Meanwhile Marco is haunted by dreams of what he think happened in Kuwait.
As Marco investigates the Kuwait incident, the story begins to unravel, and he begins questions if it happened at all. After his investigation, it seems possible that the entire unit was kidnapped and brainwashed to believe Shaw was a war hero as part of a plot to take over the White House. When officials at the Manchurian Global corporation discover that Marco is investigating the incident, they become determined to stop him.
Washington takes on the role of Major Ben Marco (Sinatra’s old Captain role), a desert storm officer who’s come back from the war with terrible headaches, undecipherable dreams, and a member of his team who won the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Liev Schriber plays Raymond Shaw, the powerfully connected Sergeant who wins The Medal. He comes back to the States and is swept into politics. And he’s being primed for the vice presidency.
Meryl Streep plays Senator Eleanor Shaw, Raymond’s hard-nosed mother who NEEDS to have her son in a position of power. The family name MUST be upheld and put into the history books. Mrs. Streep plays probably her most creepy role to date; I loved it. Her character infuriated me one moment, and then made my stomach turn the next. A perfect performance.
Instead of Manchuria being involved, this time we have something known as Manchurian Global, a company that wants to rule the most powerful nation on Earth by controlling one of its most powerful leaders.
Director: Jonathan Demme
Year of Release: 2004
Character to watch: Denzel Washington as Ben Marco.
Journal your answers to the following questions after you watch the movie.
- How does this particular character’s journey compare with yours?
- Did the character develop certain characteristics during the movie that you have or that you would like to have? If so, what are those characteristics?
- What obstacles did this character face? What was his or her biggest challenge?
- What would you have done differently if you had been in the same position as the character?
- Is this character the type of person you would be friends with? Why or why not?