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Perfect cast and a good story

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

One of the best of all conspiracy theory movies and a brilliant political thriller, "The Parallax View" came from a time in the mid-seventies when American cinema appeared to have reached a peak in providing intelligent, grown-up entertainments that were both fun to watch and which required bringing your brain into the cinema with you rather than leaving it in the foyer with the popcorn. It begins with a political assassination on top of Seattle's Space Needle. At this stage the audience doesn't have apply any guesswork; we can see the set up. We can see the killing of the apparent assassin and we can see the real assassin get away.Step forward three years to a grubby Warren Beatty, who was there that day working as a reporter and who is now being contacted by another reporter, (Paula Prentiss in a tight cameo), who was also there and now fears for her life. It seems almost anyone who was there at the time is already dead; cue Warren off to uncover the truth. If the plot feels reasonably predictable, the treatment is superb. Alan J Pakula was the director, working from a screenplay by David Giler and Lorenzo Semple Jr and the great Gordon Willis was the cinematographer, working a lot more in the light for a change and there's an excellent supporting turn from Hume Cronyn as Beatty's editor and a brilliant one from the underrated William McGinn as the guy tasked with recruiting assassins. There's a twist in the tale you will probably see coming but it doesn't lessen the effect. As I said, this is a smart piece of multiplex entertainment from a time when movies like this were commonplace. Those, as they say, were the days.

Alan J. Pakula's 1974 film, The Parallax View was a film that I had wanted to see for some time. A national election year was the perfect backdrop for me to finally make time for The Parallax View. Warren Beatty stars alongside Paula Prentiss as a reckless reporter who will do anything to uncover a story, even if it puts his life in danger. Pakula's mastery for the political thriller has cemented The Parallax View as a longstanding classic that will certainly not be surpassed anytime soon.Upon the assassination of Senator Charles Carroll (William Joyce), of which Joseph Frady (Warren Beatty) witnessed, several other witnesses are being murdered. The official story was that the Senator was killed by a lone gunman who was also killed at the scene. Lee Carter (Paula Prentiss), a reporter who is now fearing for her life in light of the murders of the media personnel who witnessed the assassination, believes a conspiracy to be in the works. Seeking refuge and support, Carter goes to her ex-lover and possible target, Joe Frady. Joe brushes Lee off, however, not believing in the conspiracy himself, and sends her away with futile reassurance. As the death total mounts, however, Frady begins to believe in the conspiracy and begins his own investigation as to who is behind the murders. An uncontrolled reporter with a reputation for irresponsibility, Frady is not taken seriously as he follows leads. The more he uncovers, the more Frady understands that the conspiracy reaches higher than he could have imagined. Providing false names at every pass, Frady begins a race to reveal the identity of the perpetrator before his own identity is revealed. If Frady loses this race, it will surely mean the end of his life.Let me quickly get out of the way the observation that Warren Beatty was a classic-cool, ruggedly handsome man, even when he was intended to look disheveled and sloppy. Pakula is really a master of the political thriller. Having seen All the President's Men, also by Pakula, earlier this month I can say, without a doubt, that he possessed mastery in this sub-genre. The camera angles Pakula used were perfect for heightening the intensity of the story. Pakula also utilizes long shots in a brilliant way. Many key conversations take place using a long shot, with an obstruction in front of the camera; the partially blocked camera views are pure brilliance, as it really drives home the notion that we are witnessing something that we are not supposed to. The pacing was a bit slow through the second act, which is largely forgivable since we get to witness Pakula orchestrating the perfect set-up. Watching Frady fall into the nefarious agency's trap was reminiscent of the tour through the plant in Soylent Green, and just as sinister. Pakula ends his thriller in a perfect way that shows the never ending cycle of the political corruption in which no citizen can escape from.

Independent minded Senator Carroll is assassinated on top of the Space Needle. The assumed killer falls to his death and a commission declares him to be a lone gunman. Three years later, Lee Carter pleads with reporter Joe Frady (Warren Beatty) to investigate the Carroll assassination. The people around Carroll on that day are getting killed off. Frady finds something disturbing. He is attacked by Sheriff Wicker. He kills Wicker and discovers the name Parallax Corporation among the sheriff's belongings. His boss is Bill Rintels (Hume Cronyn) doesn't believe him at first. He suspects that they are recruiting psychopaths and he intends to infiltrate the organization.The first half is really compelling. There is a good sense of paranoia. It fades a little after the plane bombing. They couldn't film the plane exploding. It's the first sign of the movie's limitations. I wish the movie could find the next gear but it's not really there. I also wasn't impressed with the long montage sequence that Frady sits through. It could be much more compelling but it feels derivative of 'A Clockwork Orange'. It's still a very good paranoid thriller.

It's long been said that one of the reasons George Lucas went and made "Star Wars" was to lighten the bleak mood of '70s cinema. And I have to believe that "The Parallax View" is a chief contributor to that cultural feeling. The movie's cynicism is deeply-rooted, with paranoia laid on thick and assassins fueling a hopeless outlook on American politicsAnd I'm sure that makes things sound extremely dire (not to mention with that ending), but all of this makes for one terrific thriller. This is the kind of sinister cabal that can only be challenged by a second-rate reporter with a penchant for shiftiness (again, '70s), and Warren Beatty is as tough as they come (can't say I ever pictured him winning a bar fight, but he sells it). That opening on top of the Space Needle is bonkers, and the very narrative doesn't really become any more reasonable after that. And there's just something ballsy about all of this; say, putting Beatty into a Ludovico-like setup but it's the audience that gets the brainwash treatment. One wrong move, and this could completely fall apart; more silly than riveting. But it sure as hell ain't silly.