Review of The Parallax View (1974) by Ben L — 14 Jul 2014

Always technically brilliant and oftentimes thrilling, ace paranoid thriller The Parallex View isn't the best '70s conspiracy tale but its slick presentation ranks it near the top of the genre nonetheless. In a day and age when the U.S. outsources some of it's intelligence operations, a story about a corporation that recruits, trains, and "uses" political assassins doesn't sound too off base. In fact, this View seems almost prescient. If only more of Parallex dated as well. In a post-9/11 world, it's hard to buy the main character, over-his-head reporter Joseph Frady, boarding a plane from the Tarmac at the last minute and - like the 20th Century Limited - paying once they've taken flight. Also, the then landmark hypnotic film-within-a-film orientation sequence lasts too long for modern Still, the concept and thrills hold up even when some of the twist and fisticuffs come across ham fisted. Thanks to a screen icon at the top of his game and a director just hitting his stride, however, the View is always magnificent.

In this R-rated conspiracy thriller, an ambitious reporter (Warren Beatty) uncovers a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the worlds headlines while investigating a senator's assassination.

Stuck between Klute and All the President's Men in director Alan J. Pakula's 'Paranoia Trilogy,' The Parallex View didn't fare as well come awards time (Jane Fonda bagged an Oscar for her performance in the former and he himself won Best Director for the latter) but the film is every bit as stylish. Framing modern marvels (Seattle's Space Needle! Pong!) and backwater dives with the same eye, Pakula presents a sprawling puzzler that never feels too far reaching for its hyper realistic, cynical post-Watergate grasp. Long takes allow the ambitious script some room to breathe. In hiring cinematographer Gordon Willis, however, he spun a golden straw man story into cinematic gold...almost, at least. The lived-in newspaper offices, wood paneled taverns, and spare motel rooms all get bathed in low light by a shadowy canopy that brilliantly heightens the worrisome tension. And then, there's Warren Beatty. At this point in his career, he has already proven himself time (Splendor in the Grass) and time (Bonnie and Clyde) and time again (McCabe and Mrs. Miller), he had already proven himself a top shelf actor with a gift for making anti-heroes sympathetic, but here, he hit a new low. Playing a recovering alcoholic reporter who wings his investigative application, this superstar daringly makes for an awesome political pawn.

3 Yays of the Condor.