The French Connection (1971)

Director: William Friedkin

Starring: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: There are no rules and no holds barred when Popeye cuts loose!

Plot: Police partners Doyle and Russo put a candy store under surveillance based on a hunch that something fishy was going on. Eventually it turns out that the proprietors are involved in one of the biggest narcotics smuggling rings on either side of the Atlantic, and the cops go to work.



My Rating: 9/10

Would I watch it again? Does Paris Hilton like the blow?

I love gritty crime pictures and this one is one of the best. Hackman's a badass, though a flawed badass. The car chase is rightfully infamous. The film just ends. It feels like there's another half hour waiting but there isn't. Hackman's so focused on his obsession that he won't stop but we have to. That's where THE FRENCH CONNECTION II (1975) comes in. This is one of many great 70s American crime pictures. Check out also Roy Scheider in the not-too-shabby THE SEVEN-UPS (1973).