The Parallax View

Starring: Warren Beatty, Paula Prentiss, William Daniels, Walter McGinn, Hume Cronyn, Kelly Thordsen, Chuck Waters, Stacy Keach Sr.
Directed by: Alan J. Pakula
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Thriller
1974

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A reporter (Warren Beatty) begins to investigate a politician's assassination and soon stumbles upon a far-reaching conspiracy.

Review:

Tim: Director Alan J. Pakula's The Parallax View is a solid movie, but it's the weakest of his three "Political Paranoia" movies. All the President's Men is obviously the best, followed by Klute. I'm not suggesting this isn't a good movie, but it has more flaws than the others. Still, it's a fairly good thriller that has some nice moments. It tackles similar themes to what we've seen before and there's definitely a sinister underbelly to explore. I enjoyed the movie, even though I never loved it.

The movie follows a reporter who eventually begins to investigate the Parallax Corporation, a shadowy organization focused on political assassination. This is the kind of story that connects well with conspiracy theorists and is rooted in enough realism to make it feel believable. I'm not big into conspiracies, but it's not that outlandish to think there are those who wield incredible power and stay out of the limelight. This movie offers a fairly entertaining look at an investigation fraught with danger to explore what exactly the Parallax Corporation is. Pakula's film feels a little plodding- it's not a very long movie, but even still, it drags in places. It takes quite a while for the movie to get going and it takes some amount of effort to parse through the story. It's not overly complicated, but I wish the story was a bit more accessible. The film never feels compelling enough for us to spend a lot of energy diving deep into the details of the story.

Warren Beatty is strong in the lead role. I've never been a big Beatty fan, but he works well in this role. He has the requisite intelligence for the role and he's just likeable enough for us to care about his character. I don't think he gives a great performance, but it's an effective one. Hume Cronyn gives a strong supporting performance. I really enjoyed him here and I wish he had even more to do. Kelly Thordsen was quite effective in a small but memorable role. The rest of the cast was fine, but I was surprised there weren't more standouts.

One of the things that surprised me about the film is that it so often felt joyless. Yes, it was tackling a serious subject matter, but it takes such a severe approach to the story that there's not a lot of fun moments. I was interested in the story and I wanted to see how it would all come out, but I was rarely entertained. Now, there are a few exceptions. The bar fight scene is both fun and entertaining and it's definitely one of the highlights of the film. The following scene at the floodgates is exceptional as well. These scenes represent the high point of the movie for me. It felt like momentum was building, that Pakula was going to deliver another exceptionally strong film. That momentum doesn't carry forward, though, and some of the more trying moments of the film were yet to come. I do want to stress that the Assassin Training Montage was fantastic. It was disturbing in such a subtle way. The scene lasted far longer than I would have expected and it was fascinating. It was exceptionally well done and it instantly elevated the movie in my mind.

The climax of the film was decent, but unexpected. Pakula took a very understated approach to the conclusion. Rather than a big finale, it felt strangely narrow. This did give it a personal feel and it's absolutely memorable. It doesn't quite end the film on a bang, though. We should have been exclaiming, "Oh wow!" at the conclusion. Instead, I felt like, "Oh, okay... that's interesting." Again, this is in line with the rest of the movie- it's a film that has many strengths, but too many flaws as well.

I did like The Parallax View, but not nearly as much as Pakula's other two similar movies. It's a perfectly fine film and I'm happy I watched it. However, the prospect of sitting down to see it again isn't a very favorable proposition. This is one of those films that are "one and done". It's a good movie, but had every reason to be better.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: All the President's Men, Klute, Reds, Bonnie and Clyde