The French Connection (1971)

Film Review: "The French Connection" (1971)Winning "Best Picture" on April 10th 1972 over highly-provocative, in some circles favored, "A Clockwork Orange" produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) toward an overly-fortunate, due to 40 time multiplying production budget at the U.S. domestic box office alone, producer Philip D'Antoni and the righteous award for "Best Director" toward 36-year-old uprising free-creative William Friedkin in order to deliver his world-wide-audience shocking novel-adaptated screen version of "The Exorcist" (1973) two years later, when this New York City cop-drama meets suspense-beats-of-excellence delivers at that time of conception new-age action-thrills due to relentless-chasing camera operations ingnited by cinematographer Owen Roizman, pushing hands-on action beats to live-performances by a deadly triangle two cops on one criminal on foot, in cars and trains, portrayed in haunting fashions by Academy-Award-winning Gene Hackman, at age 40, in best form to maximized worldview despair of an overly-clever drug-trafficking Fernando Rey (1917-1994), when Roy Scheider (1932-2008) as also-Oscar-nominated supporting character Buddy Russo brings moral stability in an early received action-thriller motion picture for any generation to indulge on, shot on gritty urban New York State locations on constant running 35mm "technicolor" -timed film-stock finished with a 100-Minute-Cut deliverance of a young filmmaker, who like no others made the most of talented cast and independent budget given to him in comparable Academy-Award "Best Picture" wins in eighty-nine years of Oscar-history since its first reception on May 16th 1929.© 2018 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

The French Connection (1971) is an Action/Crime/Drama/Thriller movie about 2 cops in the Narcotics Bureau of New York City. Popeye and Cloudy trying to intercept a big heroin shipment from France. Popeye, aka Jimmy Doyle, is played by Gene Hackman, and Cloudy, aka, Buddy Russo is played by Roy Scheider. I thought that both actors did a wonderful job in the movie and portrayed their characters well and in an interesting way. This was a very entertaining thriller film. The music was appropriate and mysterious and the plot was full of suspense. I would recommend this film to anyone who loves Classic Crime Dramas. The Chase is intense. Will Popeye and Cloudy catch the criminals?

Two American police officers try to track a shipment of drugs from France in this iconic crime thriller directed by William Friedkin and starring Gene Hackman. The film was a big box office success in its day, showcasing chase sequences as rarely seen before, and with frequently mobile cinematography from Owen Roizman, including well- used hand-held shots, the film is definitely technically adept. Indeed, at the best of times, 'The French Connection' is a thrilling ride, but unfortunately this is not very often - and a second viewing does little to improve things. All of the chase sequences are certainly exciting (and one where Fernando Rey gets on and off a train repeatedly is even quite funny), however, the pacing of the film slows down to a near halt in between the action scenes. The story is fairly decent, involving police surveillance and on-the-spot ingenuity, however, the characters are never particularly likable, or even fleshed out in any depth beyond being painted as relentless cops, and Hackman's Best Actor Oscar win remains one of the oddest of all time (the film also inexplicably won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay over 'The Last Picture Show' that year). Simply put, without characters that are remarkable or interesting to follow around, the film falls rather flat in its non-action scenes. Fortunately, there is a lot of action here, including foot as well as car chases, but given how many other films about hardened cops have come out in the years since, it is challenging to fathom just how popular this film was in its day.

Gene Hackman and Roy Schneider star in this action drama thriller about the life of two New York City policemen that hunt down drug dealers based on the non-fiction novel written by Robin Moore entitled The French Connection.This was based on the real lives of Narcotics Detectives Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso. William Friedkin directed this 70's film that won five Academy Awards.Alain Charnier is a French drug kingpin who distributes a big percentage of drugs in New York City.He's got a hired killer and a right-hand man in Nicoli. New York City detectives, Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy "Cloudy" Russo starts to do their investigation by putting a surveillance on Sal Boca and his wife,Angie,who are living extravagantly despite having a corner store that does not earn that much.Later,they found out that the couple do work for Charnier,who smuggles $32 million worth of heroin from France into the city.Both Popeye and Cloudy try to put a stop to these illegal acts to put a stop into the drug problem of New York.This definitely deserves the highest rating of 10/10. Despite the movie being more than 40 years since it was initially released, we get to see that the issue of narcotics remain a big problem in the country today.The process of putting a stop to Charnier was definitely told with lots of gritty realism.Aside from that,we also get to see interesting characters who are the good guys of the film with a lot of character flaws.It was definitely unusual back in the 70's to see heroes like Popeye to be violent,racist and having a mean- spirit.Aside from that,it was definitely full of violent scenes that would still excite many viewers of today.And what about the ending?That was really something considering we see the drug kingpin escape from the detectives to the bitterness of Popeye.No question that the performances of the film are worthy of an Academy Award especially Gene Hackman as Popeye and it deserves the Oscar for Best Picture in 1972 for the story was told in a fast-paced and the chase sequences were definitely explosive and full of suspense.