I was so impressed with Warren Beatty in _The Parallax View (1974)_, that I had to go back and catch up on his filmography. Unfortunately, I was not particularly impressed with this film, which is one of his biggest and earliest hits.

While some may call it an unfair criticism, my biggest issue with the film was that it shows its age. It is the 1960's version of an action blockbuster, where a significant portion of the screen time is dedicated to extended car chases and shootouts. While those elements may have impressed audiences 50+ years ago, they did very little for me in 2022. It's an unfortunate fact that certain types of films will age more gracefully than others, which is how a more dialogue driven conspiracy thriller like _The Parallax View (1974)_ can blow me away, while this film leaves me bored.

One would hope that the saving grace would be the acting. After all, the film had five performances nominated for Oscars, one of which won. However, the acting can only do so much in a film that is largely driven by action. This isn't to say that the performances are bad. There was plenty to praise. In particular, I thought Gene Hackman injected a lot of life into the script once he and Estelle Parsons came into the picture. But it wasn't enough to save the film for me. This is a simple story, and it didn't leave me particularly invested.