The Parallax View (1974)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

"The Parallax View" is the kind of film that gave some American citizens cause to question the so-called "American Dream" via their distrust of their own government, entering a war in which America had no business, race riots, President Nixon being exposed for what he really was etc. The above film is a far superior political thriller in comparison to the same director's later film, "All the President's Men." "The Parallax View" is actually a powerful and quite disturbing film about the efforts of one journalist (Warren Beatty) who investigates supposedly accidental deaths which are all linked to the events that unfold at the beginning of the film. Little does Warren Beatty realise the sheer magnitude and complexity of what he is taking on. He gradually becomes rather isolated from the outside world as his search for the truth makes him realise that not all is what it appears to be..... The photography, direction, script and the music are all first class. The acting is good as well. Watch this and be prepared to be entertained to the very end. This is easily one of the best films to come out of American 1970s cinema.

I love these conspiracy/paranoia films, and while The Parallax View is not the best it is intriguing and entertaining. For me it gets better with repeated viewing, just like Three Days of The Condor does. (SPOILERS AHEAD) The idea of recruiting 'suitable candidates' to set them up as patsies to take the rap for your own actions is an interesting one and - who knows - may have been used in one or more high-profile assassinations in recent history. Most of the good films of this type seem to have been made in the 1970's, and the way they are made, from the music to the static camera shots (Parallax is full of them) and of course the fashions and decor combine to produce (for me at least) a feeling of being 'at home', as I was a young man living with my parents when I first saw them. It's a strange effect, on the one hand feeling comfortable in your favourite period yet being unsettled by the on-screen events as our hero slowly realises he can trust no-one and doesn't even realise how he is being manipulated into a corner while he thinks he is investigating the villains.

What a ridiculous movie. If you try to follow what is happening your head begins to spin. Is it a movie from the early seventies when directors were still on acid? There is no head or tail, when it is finished you ask yourself "What was that all about?" Well, there was a head and tail, but it didn't make sense. Only for the paranoid minds perhaps...I must admit, the cinematography was good. It reminded me in the ending of Playtime from Jaques Tati, but that doesn't make it a good movie. The story was a mess in my opinion, and our hero just hopped from one scene in another without any coherence. I have nothing against a conspiracy thriller, but make it intelligent and thrilling, this was boring and impossible to follow the actions of the main character.If you haven't seen it yet, do not read further!Spoilers!!There is an assassination on a certain senator Carrol. Austin Tucker is his adviser. Witnesses are a television reporter Lee among many others. 3 years! later Lee comes to newspaper reporter Frady, hysterically claiming they want to kill her. Already six witnesses were killed according to her. And of course she is killed not long after this meeting, so Frady dives deeper. He gets into an awful bar fight with a deputy, but the sheriff sits just grinning: well done boy... After that it seems like Frady and the sheriff are well known buddies for a long time. But the sheriff wants to kill him (why?), which doesn't work, quite the opposite, so Frady breaks into the sheriffs house and finds something about Parallax!After a meeting with some guy that plays a computer game with an ape he does a ridiculous test in a chair in the parallax company. After that he is suddenly in a plane and tries to write something about a bomb with soap on a mirror and suddenly he is home again. In the meantime his head editor from the newspaper is murdered by a food delivery guy. What the ...Everything appears to be happening suddenly, with no reason, background, motive, or how it is possible. For instance, he is suddenly on a boat with Austin Tucker, (how did he find him?) Austin and his bodyguard smile at each other as if they were going to kill Frady, but suddenly the boat explodes and Frady is blown into the water and the next moment he is safe at the office of the newspaper. How the h... did he manage to do that? Is he a well trained ocean swimmer and a bomb survivor? Who placed the bomb and why? And so on and so on...Then he is supposed to meet his handler, (undercover) Ben Harkins, but in the hotel he gives Ben some weird instructions, to go to Hawaii. Then he asks for a mister Jack Younger the fellow who recruited him for parallax. Then some guys from security, or fake security, (I don't mind, my head spins already) watch him, ... And suddenly we have to watch a march band and a mysterious Mr Hammond is killed.A committee decided that Frady was responsible for the murder of Hammond, just like they decided who was responsible of the murder of senator Carrol in the beginning. Curtain...As we in The Netherlands say, I couldn't make chocolate of it...

Warren Beatty plays reporter Joe Frady, whose investigation of the assassination of a U.S. Senator leads him to a multinational corporation called Parallax, which seems to specialize in training assassins for various missions. Joe infiltrates this group as a member, where he is made to watch a fast-moving slide-show of various images meant to invoke an emotional response. This all leads to the eventual revelation that Joe may well have not seen coming, or been prepared for...Unsuccessful conspiracy tale directed by Alan J. Pakula makes very little sense when all is said and done, and has only minimal suspense or dramatic impact. Not believable, though had elements of comedy potential that went unrealized.