171 - Three Days of the Condor

    A CIA researcher returns from picking up lunch for the office to find his entire group killed.  Suspicions flare, and he tries to figure out who had his group killed, and why.
    I think this movie used to be on Conservapedia’s list of Greatest Conservative Movies.  I’ve heard a lot of talk about how much this movie influenced The Winter Soldier, so I’ve been intending to watch it.
    First, I will make it clear.  This is not a conservative movie.  It’s not a liberal movie either.  In fact, there’s nothing political about it, even though it does involve the CIA.  I’m sure that Andy Schlafly would be able to make a political observation about it though.
    It’s a strong movie.  It’s structured really well, and it works very well as a mystery.  The amount of information the audience gets is so carefully parceled out that you keep feeling like you must be missing something important.  The action is spaced out, just enough to keep things bumping along.
    I had one complaint, but it seemed like it was needed once I reached the third act.  I didn’t like the romantic subplot.  It does figure into the plot, but as it unfolds, it seemed a little too unbelievable.
    The strange thing is that I don’t see many parallels to The Winter Soldier here.  There’s a flip about halfway through the movie, where the hero is on the run for the first half, then reverses course and brings the fight to his antagonist.  But that’s where the similarities seem to end.  What it actually reminded me of was Chinatown.