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March 17, 2009
The Parallax View (1974)
Should I see it?
Nope.

Short Review: Someone should remake this and make a proper movie out of it.



Whoa, what did Warren Beatty think he was doing with his hair? The shrub on his head is simply amazing. Just think, at one time that man looked into a mirror and thought to himself “Yeah, this looks great!”

We won’t bother getting into the clothes.

Overall the movie is weak but there are kernels of interest to be found. Beatty, while being a tad wooden, is/was a strong leading man. His character Joe Frady (Joe Friday? Why would you go with such a similar name?) doesn’t amount to much thanks to a thin script. Beatty is left playing himself as he wanders gingerly through the plot holes that constitute the script as it follows reporter Frady uncovering a conspiracy to assassinate U.S. officials via an evil corporation that breeds trained killers.

Written by a more steady hand this story could have been quite the conspiracy piece. As it stands, many of the elements of the film are clunky and seem inserted as afterthoughts. The Parallax Corporation scenes are without weight. The set up of an evil corporation producing assassins is the most interesting part of the film and the filmmakers unfortunately drop the ball. I would have liked to seen more of the Parallax Corp. and its doings. The scenes in the film don’t give the feeling we’re dealing with such a monstrous entity. While some may claim this is intentional to make the whole conspiracy seem casual, I would argue it was handled far too casually.

The best part of the film is the when it handles assassination. As morbid as it is, these are the most effective and startling scenes. In addition, the final moments of the film are effective. These elements make up for the rest of the film and make it worth a viewing if you have the time and can do so for free. This is one of those rare movies I would like to see a remade. Given a properly written script, and a director who can handle suspense, it could lead to an outstanding production


Related Reviews:
Films from the 1970's
Sorcerer (1977)
Apocalypse Now (1979)


Other Critic's Reviews:
The Movie Archive
Quiet Please





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posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 8:00 AM




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2 Comments:

Anonymous Jeff Burton said...

Yeah, let's remake it. Because Hollywood has not given us enough movies about evil corporations bent on murder and mayhem.

March 17, 2009 at 9:01 AM  
Anonymous K said...

I'll check it out. For one thing, these kinds of movies set the stage for Ollie Stone and present day Hollywood. A sort of gradual approach to the powerful historical revisionism of "JFK".

If the good guys are ever going to get back in the game, they're going to have to start similarly small.

March 17, 2009 at 5:41 PM  

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