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Written by: David Giler and Lorenzo Semple Jr. (screenplay), Loren Singer (novel), Robert Towne (uncredited)
Directed by: Alan J. Pakula
Starring: Warren Beatty, Paula Prentiss, William Daniels
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
An ambitious reporter gets in way-over-his-head trouble while investigating a senator's assassination which leads to a vast conspiracy involving a multinational corporation behind every event in the world's headlines.
Verdict
This thriller delves into conspiracy theories. We follow a reporter uncovering the depths of the situation, but since we don't know the ultimate goal of this shadowy corporation they serve as the faceless villain only pushing the plot forward. Because we don't know the why this is one long chase movie where a reporter seeks the truth but never finds it. I like the ending, but it makes it seem like this group's goal is to frame random people rather than a larger plan.
It depends.
Review
I don't know when conspiracy theories and resulting movies became widespread, but The Conversation released in 1974 as well which depicts extensive surveillance. This movie purports that a cabal of people are pushing, if not outright controlling, elections. This group would definitely employ someone like the main character in The Conversation.
A senator and presidential candidate is assassinated at a parade. Years later a woman comes to Joe Frady (Warren Beatty) afraid she'll be killed as part of a coverup. Frady ignores her, but she dies and that causes Frady to look into her story. He discovers that witnesses to the assassination keep dying. It seems like something is amiss.
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| Warren Beatty plays Joe Frady |
When Frady goes to a small town to investigate a previous 'accident,' he's nearly killed himself in the same way and discovers a clandestine organization recruiting people for nefarious purposes, Parallax. Being a reporter and the main character, Frady has to infiltrate Parallax. The company wants sociopaths, and Frady fills out the application accordingly. He's accepted and the Parallax training video montage goes on for a long, LONG time.
Frady tries to infiltrate this group and realizes too late that they wanted him to join. The conclusion feels a lot like Arlington Road (1999), though I like that movie a lot more. This story line is surprisingly modern with the idea that a secret cabal is trying to control the world. The last scene of the movie is an echo of the first scene. This pattern will continue until Parallax gets their way.
This is a wild movie, but we never know what Parallax is really after. They seem more like a terrorist group eliminating political candidates than a shadow corporation running the world. That's the problem, we never know who Frady is fighting. It's a fun ride that keeps getting darker, but most of this is Frady running head on at a train and we don't know enough about the train.
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