It's guy movie week here on Filling in the Gaps, and I've followed up the prototype for buddy pictures "Butch Cassidy..." with the Gene Hackman crime thriller "The French Connection."
I have to admit I have seen this one before, but it too was a long time ago. I was struck immediately by how much energy there seemed to be bubbling behind the surface of the film. Even the main titles seem to be ready to race off the screen and get things moving.
The music, the direction, and the great performances all help obscure the fact that for the first half of the movie nothing much happens. Outside of Hackman's Popeye Doyle roughing up a few thugs, talking to his ghetto snitch and getting called on the carpet and thrown off the case by his superior, there's a lot of waiting and watching.
The chemistry between Hackman and Roy Scheider doesn't get enough credit either. They're quite a team and a joy to watch. Scheider is the level headed one with Hackman always seeming ready to blow at a moments notice. Hackman's character is a racist bully, but he helps win over the audience anyway with charm and dedication.
No discussion of the French Connection would be complete without mentioning its tremendous chase scene where Hackman is chasing a sniper- he's in a car, while the sniper's hijacked an elevated train. It's a testament to the film that even after seeing thousands of car chases, this one still has the power to thrill. I'm surprised a movie this purely entertaining actually won best picture in the 1970's since it doesn't seem to be the Academy's usual thing. But it's a true classic worth watching again and again.
Buy it, rent it, watch it on cable, or skip it: Buy it.
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