In the early 1970's, distrust of the government was widespread. "The Parallax View" was one of the movies that reflected this.* Joe Frady (Warren Beatty) is a reporter who one day is covering a candidate's campaign, when the candidate is assassinated. A governmental committee concludes that there was no conspiracy. However, within three years, Joe is the only witness still alive. As he tries to investigate further, he finds himself on the run.

I'm guessing that the central idea was loosely based on the Kennedy assassination. Director Alan J. Pakula sets every scene so as to maintain a sense of impending doom. You may be uncertain as to whom you can trust after watching this movie. It's that well done. It just goes to show that the world's real horrors aren't supernatural at all.

*Others include "Three Days of the Condor" and "All the President's Men".

There is so much to unpack here. Apart from this being a political (conspiracy) thriller it also may have the funniest lines outside of a Zucker/Abrams/Zucker production ... which I did not expect at all. There is doom and gloom and there is Warren Beauty ... in case you never saw him in young (I know it is spelled Beatty, but you'll forgive my very obvious pun).

Talking about very obvious, the movie and its premise and what it tells us the viewers is also not hiding behind anything. We get into the mindset of the main character and we do find out more about what happened and about what sort of still happens ... with a great director like Pakula at helm this does not get as much credit as it deserves at all. Neither back in the day (awards wise) nor now ... though with many wild conspiracies growing, it may be the wrong time to praise this at the moment ... still it is exceptional to say the least! I've never tried to kill myself succesfully ... just one of the many quotes one can take from this movie, without even spoiling anything! And up there with "there is no fighting in the war room"! :)

THE PARALLAX VIEW is another gripping conspiracy thriller from the decade that made so many of them. Warren Beatty plays a crusading reporter investigating the mysterious deaths of a number of his peers, deaths which may or may not be connected to the murder of a politician at which he was present a few years previously. This film is different from the others I've watched, far less complex in terms of plot. It's very much a visual experience which reaches a high in a montage of imagery which attempts to get across what it feels like to be brainwashed. Beatty is a solid lead and there are some good supporting players like Anthony Zerbe and Hume Cronyn, while the level of suspense and paranoia is high. There are also some great set-pieces, particularly early on, with the only let down being the bit where they don't have the money to show a plane exploding. The film's air of ambiguity helps a treat too.