History Film / TheParallaxView

* FauxAffablyEvil: Jack Younger does his best to come off as a polite BenevolentBoss, but he's too cold and menacing to pull it off.

** Wickers, who's a mid-ranking employee of the Parallax Corporation that's definitely done dirty work for them before. Bill also mentions he was indicted for an unrelated utility scandal, too.

* DirtyCop: Wickers, who's a mid-ranking employee of the Parallax Corporation that's definitely done dirty work for them before. Bill also mentions he was indicted for an unrelated utility scandal, too.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Wickers admits he's disgusted with Red's behavior, and that he would've interfered in his fight with Frady had Frady not been [[CurbStompBattle absolutely destroying Red.]]

* SmallTownTyrant: Deputy Red is a total {{Jerkass}} that enjoys taking advantage of his badge to bully people. His uncle Sheriff Wickers is himself a DirtyCop, but [[EvenEvilHasStandards even he frowns on Red's behavior.]]

* CorruptHick: Deputy Red, who's a total {{Jerkass}} that enjoys taking advantage of his badge to bully people. His uncle Sheriff Wickers is himself a DirtyCop, but [[EvenEvilHasStandards even he frowns on Red's behavior.]]

** CorruptHick Red harasses Frady at a bar and tries to publicly humiliate him, and then assaults him when he doesn't go along with it. The result is that [[CurbStompBattle Frady beats the crap out of him in a]] BarBrawl.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Invoked by Frady after his meeting with the ex-FBI agent; he pretends to be someone accused of exposing himself to a woman in order to get into the Parallax corporation. As the ex-FBI agent points out, if they investigate the false alias he used to cover up that so-called past, once they get to the second fake alias, they won't bother investigating too much.

TV reporter Joe Frady (Beatty) is among the many people to witness the assassination of US Senator and possible presidential candidate Charles Caroll (William Joyce), who is shot while campaigning at a restaurant atop Seattle's Space Needle.[[note]]It's modeled on RFK's assassination rather than JFK's, but still.[[/note]] Three years later, he is approached by his ex-girlfriend and fellow reporter Lee Carter (Prentiss), who claims to have been one of a few witnesses who saw a second gunman, and tells him that someone is killing these witnesses. In spite of her fears that she's next, Frady brushes her off, only to learn the next day that she's been killed in [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident a car accident]]. Now suspicious, Frady begins to investigate, and discovers the late Caroll was linked to the shady Parallax Corporation. He decides to infiltrate one of their programs, and the danger grows.

TV reporter Joe Frady (Beatty) is among the many people to witness the assassination of US Senator and possible presidential candidate Charles Caroll (William Joyce), who is shot while campaigning at a restaurant atop Seattle's Space Needle.[[note]]It's modeled on RFK's assassination rather than JFK's, but still.[[/note]] Three years later, he is approached by his ex-girlfriend and fellow reporter Lee Carter (Prentiss), who claims to have been one of a few witnesses who saw a second gunman, and tells him that someone is killing these witnesses. In spite of her fears that she's next, Frady brushes her off, only to learn the next day that she's been killed in [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident a car accident]]. Now suspicious, Frady begins to investigate and discovers the late Caroll was linked to the shady Parallax Corporation. He decides to infiltrate one of their programs, and the danger grows.

''The Parallax View'' is a 1974 political thriller film, directed by Creator/AlanJPakula and starring Creator/WarrenBeatty, Creator/HumeCronyn, Creator/WilliamDaniels, and Paula Prentiss, about one reporter's search for the truth regarding a political assassination.

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Wicker had previously drowned one of the witnesses with the dam's floodgates and tries to do the same to Frady. Frady puts up enough of a fight so that they're both caught in the rapid water flow, and Wicker winds up dragged off by the current and drowned while Frady gets away.]]
* KarmicMisfire: [[spoiler:Frady not only fails to publicly unmask the true nature of the Parallax Corporation and prevent their assassination of a senator but is also killed at the scene and ends up being blamed for the assassination by the official investigation committee. Meanwhile, the Parallax Corporation is able to continue its murderous operations unscathed.]]

* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler: Frady not only fails to publicly unmask the true nature of the Parallax Corporation and prevent their assassination of a senator but is also killed at the scene and ends up being blamed for the assassination by the official investigation committee. Meanwhile, the Parallax Corporation is able to continue its murderous operations unscathed.]]

* TheUnReveal: It's never revealed [[spoiler:whether Frady was always known to the Parallax Corporation, or whether they set him up specifically, or was whoever they recruited intended for that.]]

* TheUnReveal: It's never revealed whether Frady was always known to the Parallax Corporation, [[spoiler:or whether they set him up specifically, or was whoever they recruited intended for that.]]

* TheUnReveal: It's never revealed if Frady was always known to the Parallax Corporation, [[spoiler:or whether they set him up specifically, or was whoever they recruited intended for that.]]

Reporter Joe Frady (Beatty) is one of the many people to witness the assassination of US Senator and possible presidential candidate Charles Caroll (William Joyce), who is shot while campaigning at a restaurant atop Seattle's Space Needle.[[note]]It's modeled on RFK's assassination rather than JFK's, but still.[[/note]] Three years later, he is approached by his ex-girlfriend and fellow reporter Lee Carter (Prentiss), who claims to have been one of a few witnesses who saw a second gunman, and tells him that someone is killing these witnesses. In spite of her fears that she's next, Frady brushes her off, only to learn the next day that she's been killed in [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident a car accident]]. Now suspicious, Frady begins to investigate and discovers the late Caroll was linked to the shady Parallax Corporation, and the danger grows as he infiltrates one of their programs.

Reporter Joe Frady (Beatty) is one of the many people who witnessed the assassination of U.S. Senator and possible presidential candidate Charles Caroll (William Joyce), shot while campaigning at a restaurant atop Seattle's Space Needle.[[note]]It's modeled on RFK's assassination rather than JFK's, but still.[[/note]] Three years later, he is approached by his ex-girlfriend and fellow reporter Lee Carter (Prentiss), who claims to have been one of a few witnesses who saw a second gunman, and tells him that someone is killing these witnesses. In spite of her fears that she's next, Frady brushes her off, only to learn the next day that she has been killed in [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident a car accident]]. Now suspicious, Frady begins to investigate and discovers the late Caroll was linked to the shady Parallax Corporation, and the danger grows as he infiltrates one of their programs.

''The Parallax View'' is a 1974 ConspiracyThriller film, directed by Creator/AlanJPakula and starring Creator/WarrenBeatty, Creator/HumeCronyn, Creator/WilliamDaniels, and Paula Prentiss, about one reporter's search for the truth regarding a political assassination.

''The Parallax View'' is a 1974 {{conspiracy thriller}} film, directed by Creator/AlanJPakula and starring Creator/WarrenBeatty, Creator/HumeCronyn, Creator/WilliamDaniels, and Paula Prentiss, about one reporter's search for the truth regarding a political assassination.

* BetterManhandleTheMurderWeapon: [[spoiler: Frady]] does this foolishly in the finale, picking up the dropped sniper rifle that was just used to murder another candidate. This sets him up as the fall guy. Of course, if he hadn't then the real killers probably would have just pressed it into his hands anyway after he'd been shot.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/209365_full.jpg]]

A 1974 ConspiracyThriller directed by Creator/AlanJPakula about one reporter's search for the truth about a political assassination, embodying TheSeventies paranoia about TheGovernment and WhoShotJFK.

Reporter Joe Frady (Creator/WarrenBeatty) is one of the many witnesses to the assassination of U.S. Senator and possible presidential candidate Charles Caroll (William Joyce). [[note]]It's modeled on RFK's assassination rather than JFK's, but still.[[/note]] Three years later, he's approached by his ex-girlfriend and fellow reporter Lee Carter (Paula Prentiss), who claims to be one of a few witnesses to have seen a second gunman, and that someone is killing these witnesses. In spite of her fears that she's next, Frady brushes her off, only to find out the next day she died in [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident a car accident.]] Now suspicious, Frady begins investigating and discovers the assasinated is linked to the shady Parallax Corporation, and the danger grows as he infiltrates one of their programs.

Despite its convoluted, unlikely conspiracy plot, a great movie and Seventies paranoid thriller in particular. More than anything else, this shows TheSeventies culture, in the aftermath of the JFK, RFK, MLK assassinations, Vietnam and Watergate. The movie was released the same week President UsefulNotes/RichardNixon was impeached.

* AffablyEvil: Sheriff L.D. Wicker. Sure, he's a DirtyCop in on the conspiracy, but he's rather friendly and accommodating to Frady, and even takes him fishing before trying to kill him.

* UnPerson: Will laments that the FBI has not only fired him, but taken his name off of the list of ex-FBI agents for whatever reason.

* MurderInc: The Parallax Corporation seems to be this, whether or not it was a secret government front.

* IntrepidReporter: Frady and Carter.

A 1974 ConspiracyThriller directed by Alan J. Pakula about one reporter's search for the truth about a political assassination, embodying TheSeventies paranoia about TheGovernment and WhoShotJFK.

* CorruptHick: Deputy Red, who's a total {{Jerkass}} that enjoys taking advantage of his badge to bully people. His uncle Sheriff Wickers is himself a DirtyCop, but [[EvenEvilHasStandards even he frowns on Red's behavior.

* {{Jerkass}}: Austin Tucker, who's paranoid and hostile to Frady, even insulting him to his face and repeatedly accusing him of being an assassin.

* KarmicMisfire: [[spoiler: Frady not only fails to publicly unmask the true nature of the Parallax Corporation and prevent their assassination of a senator but is also killed at the scene and ends up being blamed for the assassination by the official investigation committee. Meanwhile, the Parallax Corporation is able to continue its murderous operations unscathed.]]

* BlackComedy: [[spoiler:After Senator Hammond is shot, his golf cart spirals out of control and rams into several tables while his pre-recorded speech continues to blare on through the speaker.]]