The Manchurian Candidate is a 2004 American neo-noir psychological political thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme. The film, based on Richard Condon's 1959 novel of the same name and a reworking of the previous 1962 film, stars Denzel Washington as Bennett Marco, a tenacious, virtuous soldier, Liev Schreiber as Raymond Shaw, a U.S. Representative from New York, manipulated into becoming a vice-presidential candidate, Jon Voight as U.S. Senator Tom Jordan, a challenger for Vice President, and Meryl Streep as Eleanor Prentiss Shaw, also a U.S. Senator and the manipulative, ruthless mother of Raymond Shaw. While the name of the novel and the earlier film was retained, the significance of "Manchurian" was changed. In the original, the protagonist was captured in the Korean War and brainwashed by the Chinese in the actual Manchuria. In the 2004 film, with the Korean War replaced by the Gulf War, Manchurian is used, instead, as the name of a sinister multinational company. Plot Major Bennett Marco commanded a famed U.S. Army unit during a Gulf War raid in 1991. For his role in that mission, Sergeant First Class Raymond Shaw was awarded the Medal of Honor for single-handedly defeating the enemy and rescuing all but two of his men. By 2008, the U.S. has become dominated by xenophobia, de facto martial law, environmental degradation, and increasing corporate influence; Shaw is now a U.S. congressman. His ruthless mother, Virginia Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw, uses her influence to secure his nomination as the vice-presidential candidate over the favorite, Senator Tom Jordan. Raymond is shy and withdrawn, but opens up to his mother and his childhood sweetheart Jocelyn, Senator Jordan's daughter. Al Melvin, one of Marco's former soldiers, tells Marco of his confusing memories and dreams about their lost army unit. Though clearly mentally ill, he shows Marco his drawings of images from his dreams. Soon, Marco also dreams about the raid, where Raymond and he are captured and brainwashed to kill members of their platoon. Their captors included scientists led by a mysterious South African man. Marco starts investigating what really happened. He travels to New York City: on the train he meets an outgoing supermarket clerk who had already identified him earlier, named Rosie. She offers him a place to stay in New York. While showering at her apartment, Marco feels a small lump on his upper back. He uses a knife to dig at the